The Hidden Will
by will-0f-fire
Summary: What seems like to be a normal A-rank mission to escort a VIP back to his homeland turns out to be much more. Minds will be changed and hearts will be altered. Two shinobi, destined to be together or destined to die tragically? Nothing is what it seems to be anymore. Will they all be able to pull through the lies together as a team or fall apart alone?
1. Chapter 1: Just By Chance

This is my first story on here so just please hold on if I haven't quiet gotten into that 'mood of suspense' yet.

Disclaimer: Oh, believe me if I owned Naruto or any of the main characters I would be rolling around in all my money.

**Quick Author's Note: **I know, I know, most people hate interruptions. But, if I feel I can clear some confusion up or something, I shall be here. Though I know you hate it, and I hate to interrupt your reading, it might help so just bear with me. If I feel that a scene could be better, or have a little spicing up, with music I'll provide the link at the end of the paragraph or something. You just copy and paste that little sucker into Google and listen to the music as you read to give it that little oomf. Feedback of any sort (I mean just don't be rude about it, no one likes a bully) is greatly appreciated, so please, do it up!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Just By Chance**

The Land of Fire was sweeping with joy. You would have thought that since the destruction of their home occurred they would be in a big hole of despair and hate. Maybe some even wished for vengeance for their now destroyed village. But no, it was nothing like that. Not a single person had one bad thought in their body. They took in the destruction of their home, were upset for a while, but when they realized their loved ones still remained, they got over it and instead looked forward to the building and the future of their village. The Will of Fire burned deeper in their hearts then never before.

The civilians of Konohagakure were all running about through the village, every person doing one thing or the other. Everything was for the rebuilding of their village and no one complained about it. Even the little children and older citizens were doing their share of help, whether it was running to get the construction workers a drink, or even just cleaning up the streets.

For a while now, though, the streets had been silent. Minus the friendly chatter and laughter among the people, there was something missing. Or more like a certain someone. Everyday that passed by was another day without Konoha's famous hero.

Naruto Uzumaki.

It had been three months and a half since the hyperactive Uzumaki ran through the village with his famous smile plastered on his face. The villagers were beginning to miss the joy the boy would radiate off his body without even trying. Though some hated to admit it, but it wasn't a day in the Hidden Leaf Village without Naruto Uzumaki running and leaping around wildly.

After Madara Uchiha declared the Fourth Great Shinobi War at the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, Tsunade had sent Naruto to Mount Myōboku to continue his sage training and fully perfect his Senjutsu. In reality though, she just needed to get the blonde boy out of her hair long enough that she could discuss strategy to protect the boy. Considering the war was mainly to protect him and the eight tails from Kumogakure, she couldn't have him insisting to be placed in the action. If Naruto had found out that they were discussing strategy, or even the war in general, he would have surely begged to be put on the battlefield to fight alongside with his comrades.

But finally the day was coming closer when Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead would return back to the village where he was so dearly missed.

Especially by a certain Hyūga.

* * *

The sun was at its pinnacle. Not a single cloud tainted the sky with its presence. The birds were flying around and landing on branches, all while singing their joyful music and filling the breeze with their blissful notes. The wind was soft and barely swayed the flowers to its rhythm. The old members of Squad 8 were down by the river enjoying their well-deserved day off.

Akamaru and Kiba were splashing around in the water, threatening to splash the poor blue haired girl with water. She ran away squealing and begging the boy to stop chasing her but he wouldn't budge. Even the stolid shinobi, Shino, was getting a kick at watching Hinata run for dear life.

"K-Kiba-kun, p-please stop!" She begged as she ducked behind a large gray rock.

Kiba laughed and finally stopped in his tracks with Akamaru, "Aw, come on, Hinata! Don't be such a wuss. It won't kill you to get a little wet and have some fun!" After realizing the words that had come out of his mouth, he fell into the water laughing at his own perverted joke causing Hinata to blush a bright scarlet.

"T-that's not funny, Kiba-kun!" she protested.

Shino watched as his teammates had fun without him. He pushed his back off the tree he was leaning on and began to make his way towards them. When he was closer to them he said, "it seems you have forgotten about me."

Kiba stopped laughing, sat up, and stared at Shino, "Whaddaya mean we forgot about you, Shino? You're the one being the weirdo and hiding deep in the forest. If you wanted to have fun you should have joined us out in the sun, not lurking in the dark like some stalker!"

"I don't see why you only chase Hinata and try to splash her when I too am your friend and want to have fun."

Kiba backed away a little from the Aburame, "Shino… That's a bit creepy."

Hinata itched away from the rock she was hiding behind and began to watch the scene that was going on in front of her, a smile slowly growing on her pale skin. ( watch?v=kW1ppyOGg2E )

"No, it is not creepy. Why? Because I am your friend," Shino stepped into the water to get closer to his prey. "As your friend you are to chase me and try to splash me with water as well."

Kiba stood up and backed up against the rock Hinata was hiding behind before. "Sh-Shino, you're really freaking me out." Akamaru barked in agreement as he stood next to his owner's side.

Not acknowledging his own forwardness and "creepiness", the bug handler stepped in front of his victim, finally closing the gap between the two and preventing him from escaping. "Do you favor Hinata over me?"

Kiba cringed as Shino got even closer, trying to shrink away against the rock. "A-Akamaru!" he shouted in panic. The ninken jumped up and got in between the two ninja, pushing Shino away from Kiba. The Inuzuka sighed in relief as his predator returned back on to dry land. He was safe.

Hinata began to laugh uncontrollably, holding her sides with one hand and the gray rock for support with the other. She didn't know what had over came her but seeing Kiba so frightened by Shino pressed her laugh button and she couldn't stop it. The two boys turned to look at her with a puzzled expression on their face that was soon taken over by a smile—well except Shino. He was still a bit upset that Kiba hadn't tried to splash him with water.

Seeing the blue haired girl come outside of her comfort zone and start laughing loosely could make anyone smile. Her own teammates rarely saw her act this way so they couldn't help but smile. Kiba smirked and bent down closer to the water to take advantage of the situation and splashed the distracted Hyūga in the face. Hinata stood frozen as the water soaked her to the bone. When she finally realized what fully had happened, she turned to the dog specialist."Kiba-kun!" she squealed, "That's not fair!"

Kiba bit his tongue from laughing as he watched the girl struggle to dry her jacket off. "A shinobi should never let their guard down," he said in a mocking sophisticated tone.

Hinata squeezed the ends of her jacket harder, trying to get her jacket at least a bit dry. When she finally gave up on drying off her jacket manually, she bent down and splashed the ninken specialist in the face. She puffed her cheeks, trying to sustain her laugh because of the face the boy had made when the water made impact with his body.

She failed.

Soon enough, it was an all-out splash war between Hinata and Kiba with Shino watching from the side. Hinata noticed his envy and splashed water towards him, soaking the upper part of his pants.

Kiba turned to look towards Shino and fell back in the water, rolling back and forth gripping his sides as he laughed. "Couldn't hold it any longer hey, Shino?"  
He said through laughter.

The Aburame member turned a light pink before returning to the shadows of the trees, "This isn't what I meant by letting me join."

Hinata stared after the boy feeling terrible and completely embarrassed. "Sh-Shino-kun, I'm so s-sorry!"

He lifted his hand to stop her, "It's fine, I forgive you. Why? Because you are my friend and as my friend you wanted to include me in you—"

"Are you still on that?!" Kiba interrupted.

Hinata smiled at her two teammates. It was days like these that filled her heart with warmth and happiness. Days like these which made her wish they'd never end. Though she was very happy and wouldn't trade this amazing day for anything, she felt as if something was still missing. A certain someone. A certain face that she only needed to see for a few seconds to fully make her day wonderful and perfect.

She missed him. That boy that was loud, hyper, and to some people 'annoying' though to her he was just being adorable. It had been a long while since she had seen him and she was starting to fear that she would never get to see him because of the war. There wasn't time for relationships during a war. She almost slapped herself at that thought. _Naruto-kun doesn't even know how I feel for him and I'm thinking about relationships, _she thought.

No one was allowed to know the whereabouts of Naruto, for security purposes, but that didn't mean it made her wonder. Only Kakashi, Tsunade, and Shizune knew where he was and what he was doing. There had even been rumors that the boy had left the village in search for Sasuke. Others said that he left the village completely. Though the one about Sasuke could have been true, she knew both of them were lies, but they still made her heart ache.

"Hinata?" Kiba stepped in front of her, waving his arms around like a monkey. "Hello, Earth to Hinata! Do you read me, Hinata?"

The fair skinned girl snapped out of her thoughts and nodded at the boy in front of her, "Y-yes, Kiba-kun?"

"I asked if you wanted to get something to eat? We're starving."

She nodded again and began to walk towards dry land before slipping and falling flat on her face in the water. This time Kiba didn't laugh. He could sense something was wrong with her and instead helped her up. "You're thinking about that knucklehead again, aren't you?"

She didn't have to answer to know he was right. Seeing Hinata get so ditsy about a boy like Naruto made his blood boil. The boy was so dense he never even acknowledged her. Hinata had her eyes set on Naruto, Naruto had his eyes set on Sakura, and Sakura was head over heels for a rogue ninja. It was a ridiculous love triangle and Kiba didn't understand it at all. All he knew was that Hinata was like a younger sister to him and he didn't want to see her get hurt, especially by a boy.

"Kakashi sensei said that Naruto would be returning somewhere next week," Shino said. Hinata lifted her head towards the boy, her eyes glinting with hope. She continued to walk alongside her friends, a small smile on her face. _Naruto-kun will be back soon, _she thought, trying to keep her smile under control._ He's not gone._

She was wrong.

He would be returning that day.

* * *

The stack of papers seemed never ending on the Hokage's desk. Her taste buds begged for a drink of alcohol but she knew better than to get distracted now that a war was on its way, but that didn't mean it would stop her from getting a shot. Even though Shizune would have disapproved, she needed a little sip of sake to keep her going. She was expecting a "secret" delivery of two bottles of expensive sake, what she wasn't expecting was a hyper blonde to almost break her door down.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI HAS RETURNED!" The blonde headed shinobi shouted as he kicked open the door.

Tsunade brushed off the loudness and barely lifted her eyes from her paperwork as she spoke, "I hope you perfected your Senjutsu."

"About that, I still don't see your reason to have send me off on basically a vacation," he said walking towards her desk and placing a hand on it. "I mean really, if you've forgotten, I am the one that saved this entire village... By myself." He gave her a conceited grin which only caused the Fifth Hokage to laugh.

"Very well, Hero of Konoha, are you done bragging? I have important Hokage things to do."

"Really? You're not going to ask about the super cool powers I have now?"

She shook her head no as she continued to read the document at hand.

Naruto pouted, not satisfied with the attention he was getting. "I leave for almost four months and I return to no attention! Not even a proper welcome back!"

A vein began to grow on the Hokage's forehead, "Naruto, will you get out before I ram your head through the wall!"

He shrunk inside his clothes, "uh, right. Sure. See ya, baa-chan!" He ran out of the room before meeting death by Tsunade.

As the door slammed shut behind him, Tsunade lifted her gaze towards the door with a smile painted on her face, "Welcome back, Naruto."

* * *

Naruto walked through the streets of his home, filling his lungs with the smell of the restaurants he walked passed. Occasionally the villagers would greet him and welcome him back. All proving that he was dearly missed and making the Hero of Konoha feel even more important. He breathed in the scent of Yakiniku Q as he walked past only to have his stomach growl to alert him that he was hungry. His mouth watered as he inhaled the smell more deeply, it had been too long since he had real human food. He clutched at his stomach, _Ichiraku or Yakiniku?_ He asked himself the most difficult question in the world.

As if to answer his question, Team 8 was making their way towards the barbecue restaurant themselves.

Naruto squinted to make out the figures that were approaching closer and waved when he recognized his comrades. "Hey, guys!" he sprinted towards the group with a wide smile on his face. Although he wouldn't admit it, he did miss his friends more than anything. Maybe even more than the food.

"Kiba, Hinata… And uh... Shino! What's—?" He stopped just a few feet ahead of them, pointing an accusing finger, "why are you guys wet?"

Shino, who had been emotionally hurt by Naruto forgetting his name—again—stepped forward in front of the Uzumaki causing him to stand tall on his toes, "You remembered Kiba-kun and Hinata-san just fine but once again you have forgotten about me."

Naruto backed up with his hands up in defense, "Sh-Shino, your creepiness is bad for my heart..."

Hinata, who had been frozen in her place, flushing red, and eyes wide open, opened her mouth to finally say something, "Sh-Shino-kun, p-please don't s-start that again."

Naruto peeped his head around Shino to stare at the stuttering girl, sending her his trademark grin, "Hinata!"

She lifted her eyes from her nervously twiddling fingers and fainted at the sight of Naruto's smile and direct approach to her. Kiba quickly moved to her side to catch her in his arms, "Damn it, Naruto! We just wanted to go eat and you just had to show up."

"I didn't know she was going to pass out!"

"There's nothing we can do about it now, let's just keep moving on to the restaurant. She will wake up soon enough," Shino said, turning his back to the others and walking towards Yakiniku Q.

Naruto turned his head back to watch the Aburame member leave them behind, "What's his problem?"

Kiba ignored him and followed Shino with Hinata in his arms, "Shino, wait up!"

"What's your problem?!" Before forgetting why he had run up to them in the first place, it hit him again. "Wait—Kiba! Can I join?"

"Yeah, whatever. Just make sure you have money!" Kiba shouted back without even turning around.

Naruto pulled out Gama-Chan and opened it to see if he had enough. Satisfied with the money that was in the bag, he ran after Kiba and Shino to join them at the barbecue restaurant.

* * *

Inside, the mouthwatering smells wafted in and out of the kitchen. The sizzling of the fresh meat came from various tables where customers leaned over their food, hungrily waiting for it to be ready to dive in. Everyone in the restaurant was grateful for the Akimichi clan. If not for them, Yakiniku Q would have never been rebuilt as fast as it was. Of course they did it willingly, but also for a free meal here and then, thus resulting in them constructing the famous restaurant in record time.

As they walked to their table, Kiba received strange looks as he carried the unconscious girl in his arms. He returned every look with a nervous smile, cursing Naruto under his breath. When they finally reached their table, he laid the sleeping girl beside him as he sat down.

They placed their order and in a matter of minutes the meat was brought to them, even though the place was swarming with people. The meat sizzled and began to let out a rich odor that infested Naruto's nose, causing his stomach to growl even louder than before. He clutched his stomach and groaned, "Could you cook any faster?!" he whined to the food.

Kiba laughed and flipped over his pieces, "Calm down. If you eat it now you'll get sick, idiot."

Naruto moved his face closer to his food, "Come on little guys, hurry up!"

Hinata stirred a little, trying to push herself away from the noise that surrounded her. All she wanted was to sleep but the noise around her — and that delicious smell—prevented her from escaping into her dreams. Her nose began to sniff upwards, _is that meat? _She asked herself. _Did I fall asleep in the kitchen? _She blinked her eyes open, realizing she wasn't in the Hyūga compound, she sat up.

Kiba, Shino, and Naruto were all starring back at her with food shoved deep in their mouths. She let out a small squeal and hid behind Kiba to hide her embarrassment from Naruto. The Inuzuka brushed off her shyness and kept eating, throwing scraps of meat to Akamaru here and there.

"Hinata, it seems you finally have woken up," Shino said matter-of-factly.

Naruto grinned at the blue haired girl, "Hey, Hinata! I bet you're starving!"

She moved away from Kiba and sat down finally acknowledging how hungry she was. She nodded and Naruto added some meat on the grill, making her blush involuntarily.

"T-thank you, Naruto-kun."

Kiba coughed loudly to draw the attention back to him, "I'm the one that kept you from falling on the ground and helped you up when you fell flat on your face in the water. Shouldn't I get a 't-thank you, K-Kiba-kun'?" he said in a terrible impression of the blushing Hyūga.

Hinata brushed off the teasing, having gotten so use to her teammate's mocking, and flipped her steaks over.

Naruto sat back, finally stuffed from all the food he had just shoved down his throat and watched his friends bicker over something so ridiculous. _Yep, I missed this more than anything_, he thought. He missed the joy he got from being around his friends, he missed laughing with them, but most importantly, he missed the food. After three months and a half of eating pure bugs—he gagged at the thought—he never wanted to leave Konoha. Ever.

The training was brutal and effective, and although he did strengthen his friendship with his frog friends, he missed his real friends. From Iruka Sensei to Izumo and Kotetsu, he missed them all. After all, this was the first time he really realized that he actually had such strong bonds with them all and that he was more than just some plague placed upon the village like he used to be treated as.

Naruto was pulled out of his daze by a piece of steak hitting his cheek and sliding down on to his lap. He turned to look at Kiba who was now laughing. "Hey, what's the big idea!?" he stood up wiggling the piece of meat in front of the Inuzuka just to have Akamaru lean in and eat it right out of his hands. Kiba laughed even louder.

"I had to get you out of your daze somehow!"

"Not by throwing a piece of meat at me you idiot!"

"Did you want me to throw a different piece of meat at you?"

Naruto blushed at the perverted comment and scowled back, he couldn't think of anything better to say. Kiba calmed himself down, wiping a tear from his eye, "I was asking you where you went. You disappeared for a while without letting anyone know, we thought you just up right left the village."

Hinata lowered her head, she thought that too and felt ashamed to have thought something so ridiculous. It was nothing like Naruto to do that.

"Nah, Tsunade-baachan sent me to Mount Myōboku to perfect my Senjutsu," he said in annoyance. He decided not to answer any more questions about his training and changed the subject, "Why were you all soaked?"

"We were down by the river enjoying our day off," Shino interrupted. Naruto moved uncomfortably in his seat as he spoke. "Not all of us were having fun though."

Kiba rolled his eyes, "Yes. Why? Because some of us pissed our pants," Kiba said in his best impression of the Aburame.

"Kiba-kun, you mustn't tease Shino-kun like that!" Hinata defended her teammate remembering it was her fault that Shino 'wet' his pants.

"Yeah, whatever," he said. He turned his attention back to Naruto, giving him his best smile, "while you were gone on vacation we've been sent on missions to kick some major bandit ass."

Naruto slammed the table with his hand and leaned closer to the dog handler, "I bet I can still beat you any day!"

Kiba laughed and stood up, "You're on, idiot!"

"K-Kiba-kun I don't—"

Hinata was caught off and began to scream in terror as bugs began flying everywhere and into the mouths of both boys causing them to squeal in panic as well.

"Sh-Shino-kun, what are you doing!?" Hinata asked backing away from Kiba who was trying to spit all the bugs out of his mouth.

"We came here to eat, not to see who was stronger," Shino said calling back his bugs who obediently returned inside his jacket.

"What the Hell, Shino?!" Naruto shouted gasping for air.

"You didn't challenge me to fight, only Kiba."

Kiba and Naruto stared at the cryptic boy for a long while before jumping and attacking the ninja, "WHAT?!"

After hearing all the ruckus going on, the owner of the restaurant came running in. He went pale and it seemed he would pass out after seeing the mess in the room. Plates were broke, the table was a mess with drinks spilled all over and meat, raw and cooked, thrown around. Not only was it that but not all of Shino's bugs had returned back safely to his jacket. Some were spit on the table– thanks to Kiba– and were still moving around in the saliva.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic smile, hoping that his high status as Konoha's hero would help him get out of this situation, "aha, sorry about the mess gramps!"

"Your wallets going to be sorry!"

Naruto turned to look at his friends and only noticed the shy blue haired girl sitting at the very corner of the room, blushing a bright scarlet as Naruto stared at her.

"Where'd Shino and Kiba go?" he asked with a nervous laughter.

Hinata twiddled her fingers together, "t-they left right when the man s-said you'd have to pay for the damage."

Naruto groaned and pulled out his very fat Gama-Chan. _Guess the Hero of Konoha won't work here,_ he thought as he squeezed his very fat frog purse.

"Why is it always me?" he sobbed as he opened his wallet.

* * *

The sun had finally started its way home, leaving a beautiful stroke of red, orange, and pink in its wake. The birds too, like the sun, were on their way back after a long day of filling the summer air with their music. Hinata and Naruto stood outside of Yakiniku Q with the light coming from inside lighting their faces lightly. Naruto was clutching his wallet to his heart, crying comically as the empty thing rubbed against his clothing.

"Gama-Chan, why—always you, Gama-Chan?!" he cried. "It took me so long to earn all that money, and now—now it's all gone!"

Hinata stared at the crying boy not sure what to do or say. "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun."

He looked up from his weeping and stared at the girl in front of him, "It's alright, Hinata. You did help me a bit at least," he said cheering up a bit.

He wiped his childish tears off his whiskered face and gave Hinata a reassuring smile that he was alright. "Well, I guess I should be going now," he said shoving his hands in his pocket as he began to walk. "See ya, Hinata!"

Hinata stared at the blonde boy as he walked away. She stood there for a moment until he was gone from her view and then she turned the other way to walk back home.

She had hoped that they would have spent a little more time together, but even if they had spent more time together she would have fainted or just stuttered the whole time, so what was the point?

She got mad at herself a bit for her lack of confidence but then pushed the thoughts away. That was her, she was shy. She couldn't do much about something she was born with. Many times she had wished she could just miraculously work some courage into her body but nothing ever seemed to work. The only time it seemed she had gotten enough confidence and courage was when she fought Neji during the Chūnin Exams and when she got in between of Pain and Naruto's intense fight.

Hinata stopped in her tracks.

_~ Flashback ~_

_Hinata leaped towards Pain to stop him from hurting Naruto anymore than he already had. He leaped back, noticing from the corner of his eye the girl coming towards him. She landed on her feet next to Naruto. Her heart ached seeing her friend, the boy that never give up, be forced to being helpless. His body was pierced by Pain's chakra rods, stopping him from moving on his own. ( watch?v=Iyuh4Tk4vf0 )_

_'How cruel…' She thought starring down at the boy and then back at the monster that had done the crime. 'Restricting Naruto-kun from moving with those poles.'_

"_I won't let you hurt Naruto-kun anymore!" She said with every ounce of confidence she had in her._

_Pain didn't seem like he cared for the girl, she was interfering with his plans. "Reinforcements?"_

"_Why'd you come out here, dattebayo?! Get away quickly! You're no match—"_

"_I know."_

_Naruto lifted his head to look up at the girl who was willing to risk her life, even if she was no match, for him. He was shocked… and angry… yet awed. Hinata, the sweet, gentle, shy Hinata had come to his aid. Of all people, her._

"_I'm just being… Selfish."_

_Anger was beginning to brew inside Naruto's stomach. This is exactly what he didn't want to happen. He didn't want anyone to interfere with this fight. He didn't want anyone getting hurt for him, to die for him. He was trying to prevent that. "What are you talking about?! Don't put yourself in danger like this!"_

_Hinata didn't budge. "I'm here because I want to be." Images of when she was younger, helpless, weak, flashed through her mind. Naruto was there to save her. To give her a goal to strive for. She wanted to repay him for all he had done for her, even if he didn't realize it. "This time I'm going to save you, Naruto-kun."_

_The blonde haired boy stared shocked by her sudden change in attitude. This wasn't the same shy girl he always knew. She was… different._

"_I was always crying, and giving up before even trying… I made the wrong turns so many times… But you helped me find my way and take the correct path, Naruto-kun… I always chased after you, I wanted to catch up to you. I wanted to walk beside you all the time. I want to be at your side, always. You changed me, Naruto-kun! Your smile is what saved me! That's why I'm not afraid to die… If it means I can protect you!"_

_She smiled, finally getting the courage to say the words that had been glued to her throat for so long, "Because… I love you, Naruto-kun!"_

_~ End of Flashback ~_

It had been a while since she confessed her love for the blonde boy. They hadn't had a chance to talk about it, or even acknowledge it since it had happen. If there was anything to talk about in the first place. She smiled, as long as everyone was okay and still alive after that attack, she didn't mind if he remembered or not. But she wished for more than anything, that he did.

She was half way to the Hyūga Compound when she heard a loud scream pierce through the silence of the evening. She sprinted towards the forest where the shouts were coming from. When she was close enough to clearly hear the shouts for help, she activated her Byakugan to see where the person was. She turned her direction towards two o'clock, as if going towards the river again, where she found three older men and a younger one, around Hinata's age, being mugged by three big scarred men.

Hinata hesitated it was too simple where it almost looked like a trap. She leaped into the clearing in front of the bandits. One who had a scar on his right cheek almost laughed at the girl, "look, little lady, it's best if you just go home and pretend you didn't see or hear anything."

"I won't let you harm these poor civilians!" She said, putting her confidence in it to show she met business. She took her Gentle Fist stance, the two other men stared in curiosity. "Jūkenpō: Hakke Sanjūni Shō!" (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms) "Eight Trigrams two palms! Four palms!" Her hits were direct, not missing their target. "Eight palms! Sixteen Palms!" The man was now pushed against the tree, making it easier for the Byakugan wielder to make her hits. She put all her anger into her hits, making him see she was not weak like he took for her. Her hits were growing stronger, causing the tree to snap and crack behind the man's body.

"Thirty-two palms!" She stopped for a few seconds, letting the man catch his breath but before he could fully lift his head, Hinata delivered the final blow. The surge of strength behind her hits caused the tree to snap beneath the man's body.

She turned towards the rest of the bandits who had just witnessed what had just occurred in front of them. They lifted their hands in defeat, "p-please! We were just looking for some quick money. W-we're sorry!"

A hand was placed on her shoulder and she jumped on instinct, it was Kakashi. "It seems you made it here faster than I did," Hinata turned to see the masked ninja rubbing his head in embarrassment, "sorry about that." His hand moved away from the girl and he walked towards the thieves to tie them up. "I heard the screams and rushed here but you ended up getting here before me, thank you."

One of the men stepped forward towards the masked ninja, "you must be Kakashi Hatake, we were supposed to rendezvous with you just up ahead but it seems luck wasn't on our side in this journey."

"Yes, you must be Daisuke? I- uh, ran into a little old lady who needed help with her bags."

Hinata rolled her eyes at the failed attempt to fool her, but he sure did manage to win over the older man.

"Hinata, I think it's best if you escort them back to the village, I'll take care of the thieves."

She nodded knowing what he meant by that. Ever since the invasion on Konoha, there had been a huge increase in attempts of infiltration in the village and burglaries right on the border. Security was increased but it seemed like the number just increased along with it. Tsunade took this as the enemy trying to see their strength in military. Any thief or prisoner caught was to be sent to Ibiki Morino at the Intelligence Division to be interrogated to see if they had any information on the rise of crimes. So far nothing had been discovered but that didn't mean anyone let their guard down.

When Kakashi took the bandits and was gone she turned her attention back to Daisuke, "Are you alright?" she asked.

As if she had snapped something in his mind, the old man jumped up. "Oh, my! Quick, check if Prince Kazuhiko is alright!" The other two men jumped up as well and turned to the younger boy who was standing behind the carriage.

He waved them off, "Oh stop your worrying. I'm fine."

Hinata looked towards the boy and finally got a good look at him. He was tall and thin with pale golden eyes. His brown hair was pin straight and reached his shoulders. His side parting let a large portion of his bangs cover the right side of his face. He wore a long light blue kimono, and black pants underneath, with a golden sash. The kimono hanged loosely, exposing his fit chest. Hinata blushed as he turned his back on her when he noticed she had been starring. The back of his kimono was adorned with a small emblem of three white camellias in the form of a triangle.

"Really, shouldn't the ninja of Konoha know it's rude to stare," Kazuhiko said.

Hinata blushed a darker scarlet and was grateful that it was too dark to see her.

"Aki, Senji, and Daisuke, please retrieve the things that have been taken." The three men took the Prince's orders and hurried to place everything back into the carriage.

"Thank you, again, for saving us." Hinata jumped in surprised at the voice the prince was using on her. Wasn't he being rude just a little while ago?

"Y-you're welcome, Prince Kazuhiko," the Hyūga said with a smile.

"I don't think you've told me your name…" The prince said.

Hinata mulled it over for a moment and then figured it wouldn't make a difference if he knew her name or not, "Hinata Hyūga."

"Hinata, in the sun. Suits you well, your smile can make someone feel like they're in the sun," he said taking Hinata's hand and kissing it gently.

She didn't know how to feel, she blushed lightly from embarrassment and thanked him. She never had a boy approach her so directly before.

"W-we should get back to the village before we're attacked again. It's v-very dangerous out here at night."

The Prince seemed like he had been brought back to reality, "Right, right. I almost forgot. I guess you lose time speaking to such a beautiful girl."

Hinata smiled at the compliment but other than that didn't know what else to do. Boys never gave her attention like this one was doing, and she barely knew him! She figured it was just his character and brushed it off, no need to let your head get filled with compliments. Her heart belonged to someone else anyway.

"Everything has been taken care of, my Prince."

Kazuhiko nodded, "very well. Hinata-san shall escort us to the village." They nodded in response. The prince turned back to the girl with a gentle smile painted on his face, "lead the way into the sun, Hinata-san."

* * *

Kakashi pushed the three thieves down on their knees in front of Ibiki, a hesitant smile beneath his mask as he stood before the interrogator.

"So these are the three filthy low lives that have plagued my village with their presence," the older man said starring down at the three thieves that were thrown in front of him. He gave them a menacing grin, "we'll just have to find out what your real plan is, won't we?"

Kakashi laughed nervously, standing near Konoha's strongest interrogator was far beyond intimidating. "Hinata-san took care of them outside the village. They attacked Prince Kazuhiko from the Camellia Kingdom."

Ibiki stared at the masked ninja, giving him a knowing look. "So this wasn't a random attack after all. It seems the Hokage knew just what she was talking about when she said to send all the bandits to me." He lowered himself to get in the level of the three prisoners in front of him and grabbed one by his chin, pinching it a bit too hard, "seems we'll just have to squeeze it all out of you. Every last ounce of it."

* * *

**Author's Note:** *shivers* Ibiki, you scary dude! Anyways, next chapter will start picking everything up. Sorry if this one kind of dragged. The next chapter will hopefully be a bit more exciting and *crosses fingers* a little funny... maybe and it'll start the Adventure part of the story. Yay, missions! Let the story begin! Don't forget to leave me feedback to help me out a bit more, it's greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2: The Mission Revealed!

**Chapter 2: The Mission Revealed!**

It was morning. The sun was already midway in the sky. The birds, who seemed to wake earlier than the average morning person, had been chirping and soaring through the sky. The inhabitants of the Village Hidden Amongst the Leaves were already starting there day. Women were sweeping outside their homes or preparing their children for school. Others, along with the men, were opening up shops. The younger children, who were not yet ready for the Academy, were still in bed dreaming away their blissful and innocent dreams.

Not only were the young children of Konoha still in bed dreaming, but also a certain blonde headed ninja. His snores filled his small apartment with an ear shattering sound. Drool was slowly creeping out of his mouth and on to his bed sheets. Ramen bowls, scrolls and expired milk cartons were scattered about through the room. His pillow, along with his blanket, was thrown around the small room, far from where the young shinobi laid. One of his arms was swung lazily over the bed and the other was tucked under his body. His butt was sticking in the air and his head was turned towards the wall. To anyone else the position might have been uncomfortable but to Naruto Uzumaki it only encouraged his hibernation.

He dreamed of a huge bowl of ramen. He swam nakedly and free across the warm broth, biting the ramen that he encountered and using the fish cakes as floats to relax on.

A loud knock was what brought him back to reality and away from his dream. Naruto turned his back to the loud noise and tried to sojourn back to his bowl of ramen but that only fueled the knocks to get louder and stronger. He groaned and reached for his pillow, when he realized it wasn't on his bed he swung his arm over his head and tried to block the knocks out, maybe they would go away if they thought there was no life inside the small apartment.

Of course he was dead wrong.

A loud smash made the lazy boy jump out of his bed and run to the door in a frantic rush.

Or well, ex-door.

Sakura stood outside where the door use to stand wiping her hands with an expression filled with apathy towards her actions. Naruto stared from the smashed door to the girl who just didn't seem like she cared if she smashed doors open or not and wanted to start laughing hysterically. It seemed every time he got money something would happen where his frog wallet would end up empty without even lint inside of it.

"Sakura-chan, why?! Not my door!" Naruto cried as he bent down to pick up the small remains of his door and clutched it to his heart. "I have no money to pay this!" He sobbed even louder as he remembered emptying out his wallet to pay for the previous night's mess at Yakiniku Q where his unfaithful companions left him with a big check of not only food but damage. Even Hinata's chip in hadn't even made a dent on what he had to pay the owner for the mess.

Sakura placed her hands on her hips, "Well maybe you should open the door when I knock!"

The blonde ninja lifted his eyes towards the girl, "That doesn't mean smash my door open! I was asleep!"

"And I was knocking! Maybe you should have gotten up!"

"Sakura-chan, I know you have freakish monster strength but that doesn't mean you can—Sakura, what are you doing?" He said nervously as he backed away from the girl who was cracking her knuckles and growing closer. "N-no! S-Sakura-chan, I-I'm sorry!" he begged putting his hands up in defeat.

The pink haired kunoichi had an evil smirk on her face as she raised her fist and connected it with Naruto's head. He fell to the ground, clutching his head with tears in his eyes. She turned around not giving him a second glance. _Hmph, how's that for monster strength?_

"Tsunade-sama summoned us, hurry up and get dressed!" She said as she began to make her way through the door way.

Naruto looked up and lowered his hands from his head, "How am I going to get dressed without a door?! You br—" Sakura stopped in her tracks and lifted her fist up, making the boy shut up and run back to his room, leaving rushing wind from his speed in his wake.

A soft smile crept up on her face and, though she wouldn't say it to him or anyone else, she whispered before leaving his apartment, "I missed you, Naruto."

* * *

Over at the Konoha Intelligence Division, Ibiki Morino was doing the last bit of preparations before interrogating his latest victim. He finalized the paperwork and walked through the door where his prey sat unmoving. It was the man with the scar on his right cheek that underestimated Hinata. He sat still. His legs were restrained with metal chains that were attached to the ground. His hands were cuffed by metal bracelets that were attached to the plain white table he sat behind. The scarred man's head was hung low and his breathing was calm.

_No sign of struggle… yet,_ Ibiki noted with a smirk towards his prey's direction.

"Your little friends tell me you're the leader, Kiyoshi" he started off with.

No answer.

He moved closer and sat in front of him. "I think it's best if you tell me everything now before things get really messy real soon."

No response.

Ibiki, who was use to this lack of coporation, stared at him for a moment and observed his characteristics. He was a middle aged man, no more than his early thirties. He had a shaven head and tan skin. His eyes were shadowed but Ibiki could feel hate radiating off them. The scar on his cheek bored deeper and deeper into his skin as he stared at it.

"Let's start off with how you got that scar."

Kiyoshi tensed up and Ibiki knew he had hit a nerve. For a moment the man didn't answer but then he lifted his head and stared at his predator in front of him, his voice low and raspy, "it's from a fight."

Ibiki smiled satisfied that his toy was finally speaking. "Tell me about it."

Kiyoshi tried to move around but the restraints prevented him from actually doing it. Should he tell this stranger the story? Should he stay quiet? He saw no harm in speaking a tale from his past. He looked into Ibiki's eyes and gave the man a mocking smile and began to retell his tale.

_~ Flashback ~_

_The moon hung low in the starry sky. The sun was long gone and the moon took center stage to show off its beauty. Kiyoshi waited in a nearby tree, waited for anything. A sign maybe. Anything._

_He knew the mission he was on was one that wasn't exactly right. He knew the difference between right and wrong but when you're a Jōnin you simply follow orders and do not hesitate. There were many things you learned in Kirigakure, one being the mission is always first. You don't hesitate, ever, not under any circumstances. You must accomplish the mission. _

_At the time the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, was in reign. Kiyoshi had to kill all his classmates in order to reach his high ranking as a ninja, especially the girl he had grown to love. But he didn't regret it. You were raised to believe that those who could not fight were not born to live, so he had been doing his village a favor by wiping out the weaklings so he could move up as a ninja._

_He squinted at the trees in front of him to try and see the other shinobi that had been placed on this mission with him, Suyo. He didn't need help. He could do this mission on his own but the Mizukage had said this mission could not be done alone. He wasn't allowed to complain, regardless, if he had another shinobi on this mission with him or not, he would do it on his own._

_There was a change in the wind and Kiyoshi could sense the chakra of someone else. He lifted his kunai and crouched in a position so he was ready to jump when the time would come, he wasn't going to let Suyo 'help' on this mission._

_His victim came into view, a ninja from a foreign land who didn't even seem to know he was about to be ambushed. Kiyoshi jumped out of the trees, kunai in hand, and slammed it inside the ninja's back. A puff of smoke surrounded him after the impact and a thud at his feet turned his attention to the ground._

'_Damn it,' he thought. 'A substitution.' He retreated back into the trees, senses more alert now that his prey knew he was on the attack. Kiyoshi turned to his left where four shuriken were flying towards him, he jumped to the ground and threw four back in the direction they came from._

'_They came from the west, so that means he'd move northwest or southwest,' he thought. He stood in the center where the Hidden Ninja's substitution laid. "Kirigakure no Jutsu!" Nothing happened for a moment but then a thick fog began to cover the air around him. He smirked, only he and Suyo could move around in this mist. He shut his eyes and tried to focus on the chakra around him to try and find his target. Before he could sense the chakra of the stranger, there was a loud scream. A scream that pierced through the forest and sent the birds flying elsewhere. A scream that shook and rattled every nerve in his body. A scream he knew a little too well._

_It was Aika's._

_Aika. The girl he had fallen for. The girl he had loved since he could speak. The girl he had to kill in order to become a ninja._

_He shook his head. 'No. No, it can't be her. She's dead. I killed her. I saw her bloody head fall to the floor—her skin going white, the blood stopping its circulation. It can't be her, no!'_

"_Kiyoshi, why? You told me you loved me. We promised we wouldn't go through with the final exam. You lied, you lied to me!" The girl shouted. Her screams and cries growing closer and louder._

_Kiyoshi lifted his head up from his hands and stared through the fog, there stood Aika. Her clothes were tattered, blood smeared all over them. Her cheeks were slashed and her arms and neck were covered in a blanket of dry blood. A giant knot began to form in the middle of the Jōnin's throat making it harder to breathe or even speak. "P-please, Aika. I'm sorry!" he cried._

_The ghost girl turned her head to reveal a giant cut that bore on the back of her head, blood still flowing out of it. "You did this. You did it all for a rank, Kiyoshi."_

_The girl walked closer and closer until she was only breaths away from the boy that kneeled before her. He couldn't move, or even think right, he knew it was a Genjutsu but at the same time it seemed too real to be fake. He knew this was the amazing power of Tatsuya Sazumoto. But his senses didn't know that, making the Genjutsu more real._

_He kneeled there paralyzed, tears rolling down his cheeks. He should run, or just move out of the way, but he couldn't. This was what the Genjutsu did. It paralyzed you and stopped you from doing anything._

_Aika was now in front of him, her lifeless eyes boring at the top of Kiyoshi's head. "You are a liar, Kiyoshi." She lifted her hand, he shut his eyes and prepared for the worst. Her hand stood frozen in the air for a moment and then gently fell down on the boy's cheek, her cool fingers wiping away his tears. "But I forgive you," she whispered. Kiyoshi stared up and almost lifted his hand to squeeze back the girl's gentle hand that rested on his cheek. But he couldn't. His head started becoming light and then everything went dark._

_~ End of flashback ~_

"I woke up back in the village's hospital. The Mizukage told me that Suyo had been killed and our target had escaped, sparing me with a simple cut on my cheek." He paused for a moment and clenched his hands into fists. "He said Suyo had begged Tatsuya to spare my life and take his instead." He laughed, "He was a fool."

Ibiki had been taking notes frantically as Kiyoshi spoke. His pen not resting from beginning to end. He finally put the pen down. "That'll be enough for today," he said getting up with his notes and leaving through the door.

* * *

Elsewhere, five ninjas were standing in front of the Hokage's desk awaiting for further orders. Naruto felt unease with having Kiba stand just a few feet away from him, let alone having a high chance on being placed on a mission with him. He still hadn't forgiven him for upright leaving Yakiniku with Shino and leaving all the blame on him.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched up. "Huh?! What the hell is going on here?" He jumped up, pointing a finger towards Kiba, "Why is dog breath here?! And where the heck is Sai?!"

Tsunade ignored his tone, "He's filling in for Sai who's on a different mission."

Kiba gave Naruto a teasing grin, "Afraid I'll out shine you on this mission?"

"Alright, but of all people Kiba?!"

"You two along with Sakura and Hinata are the only ninja available now, one of you who was personally requested by our client. With all the reconstruction and fear of invasions, we're at a shorthand with ninjas right now, "Tsunade said as she stood and walked towards her cabinet.

Naruto smiled knowingly, "I didn't know I was that famous that people are requesting me for missions!"

Tsunade walked back with a scroll in hand, "You're not." She rolled the scroll open on the table. "Hinata was the one who was requested."

All eyes turned to stare at the blue haired girl who was now blushing. She hadn't known she was personally requested to do a mission for a client. She came into the Hokage's office with Kiba thinking she had to do more guard work on the border of the Land of Fire, not something else, something like this. She twiddled her fingers nervously and tried to avoid eye contact with the others, hoping they would all drop their gaze away from the girl.

"So what kind of mission do you have for me today, baa-chan? Who do I have to put in their place?" Naruto said, going back to his loud and conceited self.

"You won't be doing any fighting; at least we hope you won't. This is an escort mission for a VIP." she said.

"What are you kidding me?!" Naruto said, fist in front of the Hokage.

Sakura twitched and placed a hand on his shoulder to make him face her, "Quit your complaining and let the women talk you idiot!" She shouted clenching her fist.

Naruto shrunk deep in his clothing, backing away a little from his teammate. "uh, sure."

"You'll be escorting prince Kazuhiko to the kingdom of Camellias where he must go through with a sacred ritual."

Hinata froze in place. _Prince Kazuhiko?_ She thought, and then it hit her. The boy she had rescued. He had requested her for this mission. Could it be that that was why he wanted to know her name?

"A sacred ritual?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade nodded, "Yes. For years now the Island of Camellias has passed down a very powerful jutsu through the royal's bloodline. Prince Kazuhiko was sent away to the Land of Gems to learn it and now has to go back to fulfill this ritual."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "This doesn't seem like such a hard mission to need so many guards."

"That's where you are wrong, Naruto," Kakashi finally spoke up. "The kingdom of Camellias is known for their powerful jutsus that run down the royal family." ( watch?v=fQ_5CPZfOW4 )

"The Island of Camellias royal bloodline is known to have many powerful jutsus but they also hold something more important, a pin that holds a mysterious power that can unleash a demon from its sleep, Azukitogi. This sacred ritual has to be done every hundred years in order to keep the demon's power locked and sealed away in this pin. Many people have tried to manipulate the prince's mind and tried to get him to open the barrier that holds the pin. Of course, the kingdom of Camellias uses the pin in their advantage to prevent their island from being invaded, so as far as we know he hasn't given in to the pressure."

Tsunade closed her eyes and fell back in her chair, "Madara Uchiha is one of those who has tried to get close to the prince."

Naruto tensed up, finally something catching his attention, "Madara?"

She nodded. "Intel tells us Madara and Zetsu have been moving for several days now, tracking the prince's movements. We know they're after the prince, but exactly how they plan on catching him and exactly what they want to do with this demon still remains a mystery. We do have a clear idea that they want to use Azukitogi's power to dominate the war."

"If that's what Madara is planning then we can't let him accomplish his goal. Not only would it turn over the power in the war, but Azukitogi would eventually destroy the world with his power. Unless Madara has somehow formed a plan to control the demon's power," Kakashi added.

"Of course, Azukitogi's body wasn't sealed away in the pin, only his soul. Prince Kazuhiko's great grandfather sealed away his body here," Tsunade pointed on a small country on the map, "in the Island of Camellias and the pin is somewhere here," she pointed towards a farther off country that was surrounded by water, "the Land of Gems, at least that's what we believe. Recently, someone has tried to break through the barrier that protects the pin that holds Azukitogi's soul, the pin was taken but we don't know if his soul has been resurrected. We could assume it has, though. If his body and soul become one and Azukitogi gets fully resurrected once again, then we might not be able to stop him and the situation will be irreparable."

Naruto looked up from the map and at the Hokage, "What happens if they become united?"

"The world will be destroyed." She turned back to the map, "The prince is here in the village but must be taken back to the Island of Camellias where the body is sealed and go through with the ritual to seal Azukitogi's body away for good. The faith of the world depends on it." She rolled the map up and placed it on the corner of her desk, "You have until sunset to gather your things and meet with the prince and his personal attendants at the main gate."

The five shinobi nodded, "Right!"

* * *

The sun was finally about to set and Hinata stood alone at the gate waiting for the others to arrive before the prince. She was nervous, yet excited. She had been glad she was put on a mission with Naruto because she finally was given the chance to show him how much she'd grown. Even though she did hope they wouldn't approach the enemy, a small part of her wished they did so she could show the blonde ninja how much she'd developed and honed her skills.

She hadn't known the prince was so important. Could it be that that's why the bandits tried to rob him? Did they know what he held or were they just some typical low lives? They had to know, it was too great of a coincidence for them not to know. Especially since Kakashi wanted to personally escort them to Ibiki, there had to be something suspicious going on.

Hinata hoped that whatever it was though, that Ibiki would leak it out of them and get the Intel to the Hokage right away. If he didn't something told her that whether the prince was escorted to where he needed to go or not wouldn't matter. This mission was more important than it sounded.

"Hinata-sama! So glad you have been put on this mission!" Hinata turned to the voice to find prince Kazuhiko getting out of his carriage and walking towards the girl. Hinata smiled at him and nodded.

"Is it only you that will be placed on this mission?"

Hinata shook her head no and looked towards the sun, it was about to set. "No, the rest of my teammates will show up soon. Y-you're in good hands, prince Kazuhiko," she bowed.

The three other ninjas came strolling in just as the sun set, Hinata had felt as if she hadn't received a memo considering they all came together. She brushed it off and greeted her comrades as they walked towards her. They all waited for a while for the famously late Kakashi Hatake who showed up as the sun was replaced by the moon. He waved at them and apologized for being late. Naruto and Sakura who were use to his lies simply waved it off.

"Alright! Let's get going to the Island of Camellias!" Naruto shouted as he took lead and began to walk ahead. He stopped short and ran back to the others, "exactly where is the Island of Camellias?"

* * *

Inoichi Yamanaka walked up to where the prisoner was being held. Kiyoshi was unconscious and sat between two large stone protrusions that incased him. The structure blocked out all the energy the prisoner's body induced and amplified those within he or she's mind, making Inoichi's job simpler. The man placed his palm on the victims head and steam began to rise out of the holes of the stone surrounding him.

Inoichi closed his eyes and focused, he was now inside the man's mind. He moved around the brain and pulled out a scroll and began to look through the events. When he found nothing he moved on to another, this went on for several minutes until he found something that drew him closer.

He stopped and paused at a vision of Kiyoshi's memory. In the memory he was walking towards what seemed to be an abandoned home. When he was inside there was a man in the shadows but you couldn't really see him that well.

"I need you to infiltrate the Leaf," the shadowed figure said. A pile of money landed before Kiyoshi's feet, he lifted it and peered inside.

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

The man stepped closer, revealing himself.

It was Madara.


	3. Chapter 3: Set Sail for the Ocean?

**Chapter 3: Set Sail for the… Ocean?**

It was a nice night. If you were to stand outside and look up you'd feel as if you were inside a dome, a dome that had enough stars peeking through the roof that could last you a life time. By now everyone was home enjoying time with their families, having dinner, laughing. Those type of things. Everyone except Inoichi Yamanaka.

Inoichi was doing far beyond what the ordinary citizen would be doing. He was inside the mind of someone who could potentially be Konoha's biggest link to Madara Uchiha and his plans.

He moved around the brain of Kiyoshi and pulled out scrolls that held memories from his childhood to now. When there wasn't anything that seemed valuable about the information he was taking in, he moved on. This went on for several scrolls until he stumbled upon something that caught his complete attention.

He stopped and paused at a vision of Kiyoshi's memory. In the memory he was walking towards what seemed to be an abandoned home that was completely broken down and forgotten about. It was a small house that was painted white and made out of concrete. The paint was beginning to chip off, leaving naked patches. Green vegetation entangled itself on the front, dancing towards the back and roof of the house. The two windows on either side of the decrypted face of the home were gone with only small shards of glass protruding out of random places of the frame. Kiyoshi made his way through the doorway, the door was missing from the hinges that held it up.

Inside was a lot like the outside. It was a one room house. Old, broken, and abandoned without any maintenance. Except there wasn't anything really to care for inside. There was broken glass—probably from the windows—scattered across the floor, old leaves decorating the wooden ground, a broken light dangled from the ceiling. Other than a lonely wooden chair in the corner of the room, there was nothing else. Besides the dark shadow of a figure that lingered in a dark corner.

"I need you to infiltrate the Leaf," the shadowed figure said. A bag filled with money fell before Kiyoshi's feet, lifting up dust and making it fill the atmosphere that was the small home. He lifted the bag and peered inside with curiosity.

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

The man stepped forward, revealing himself.

It was Madara.

The majority of his body was still covered. A dark cloak of shadows engulfed most of his body and face but you could still see the side of his orange spiraling mask. There was no doubt about it, it was Madara Uchiha.

The masked man kept his voice low and smooth as he spoke, "You're going to try and kidnap someone, doing so will get you captured and make it simpler to get inside of Konoha."

Kiyoshi laughed, "That's a given."

Madara stepped closer, "But first," he lifted his hand over Kiyoshi's head and slammed a needle filled with purple liquid into the side of his neck. For a moment Kiyoshi stood there, still stunned by the sudden turn of events, before trying to grab at Madara only to have his hand go right through him. Then he began to lose his balance. Swaying back and forth like a boat on water before collapsing on to the ground, motionless.

He tried to move his arms, his legs, even tried to fight his eyes from closing but nothing worked. He was completely helpless. Madara kneeled down to get on eye level with him, "We can't have the leaf snooping around where they are not concerned."

Kiyoshi tried to say something, but he couldn't move anything. He was just there, another item in the desolate room. Lifeless and motionless just like the chair in the corner. He didn't understand what was going on and couldn't ask either because his tongue felt like it weighed eight tons. His eyes fought the darkness but he was no match for the fluid that was taking over his body and causing him to be so paralyzed. They closed and the memory was gone.

Inoichi tried to push more into the scroll and try to get more out of it. Nothing was working. He moved on to another.

Empty.

This went on for several more empty scrolls before he realized there was purple smoke surrounding him. The smoke began to grow thicker and darker before actually suffocating the brain. The smoke danced around him and he moved to keep a distance from it but he was beginning to be surrounded by the purple cloud. A strange feeling of hate and contempt began to grow inside of him. An urge to kill and destroy was boiling inside his stomach. Realizing the shift in emotions, Inoichi pulled his hand away from the prisoner's head and stared at the scene going on in front of him.

Kiyoshi's head was beginning to shake violently, his eyes showed no pupil, only white. The stone that held his body together was now beginning to shake and purple foam was beginning to spill out of his mouth and drip down to the floor. Before Inoichi could shout for help, Kiyoshi's head had stopped and dangled lifeless to the side.

It was silent, only the dripping of the purple liquid spilling on to the floor echoed in the empty room. The Yamanaka stood there starring at the dead person in front of him, waiting for him to wake up, but that didn't happen.

_Damn it, Madara_, he thought before leaving the room and seeking the Hokage.

* * *

"How much longer until we get there, Kakashi Sensei?" Naruto asked turning on to the white haired ninja.

Kakashi stepped back alarmed at his closeness, "We have one more stop and then we'll be sailing straight to the Island of Camellias."

Naruto stared at the ninja for a while and tried to decipher his words, when he couldn't understand anymore he continued his badgering. "So… How long?"

The copy-ninja sighed, "About two more days, Naruto."

It had been two days since 'Team Babysit The Spoil Prince Until He Gets Back Home To Do His Princey Stuff' (so well named thanks to Naruto) had been assigned their mission. They had been blessed that they hadn't run into any trouble on their way to shore besides some bad weather and bad gas thanks to Akamaru.

But right now they were sailing on a big wooden boat with the emblem of Camellias on the sails that the prince had provided them with and were heading straight for the Island of Camellias. The sun was high in the sky, not a cloud in sight, and only water surrounded them. Nothing but limpid blue water and blue skies ahead.

Naruto had been impatient since the beginning. Dealing with prince Kazuhiko's ungratefulness and high status attitude was one thing, but having to watch Sakura dance around and swoon over him was another. He couldn't stand it. But the prince never seemed to actually pay any attention to Sakura, he handed it all over to Hinata who didn't seem to do anything besides blush.

And then there was also the fact that there hadn't been enough action going on to fully satisfy his means of excitement. On their way to where the boat was docked Naruto kept mistaking the slightest sounds for enemies and ended up injuring three rabbits on their way to the port. Luckily, though, Sakura was around to heal the poor injured creatures and they hopped away quickly before Naruto could even think of letting out a breath let alone a kunai knife. He was growing tired of just standing around and doing nothing besides watching the blue water. His eyes searched high and low of the ocean for some excitement before his body began to give out and slumped to the wooden floor beneath him, giving into darkness.

When he woke up again the moon already hung in the sky, lighting up the sea with its light. Naruto blinked away the grogginess and rubbed his eyes to get them open. He stood up trying to get his balance and stretched, letting out a loud and obnoxious yawn. "Oh boy, that was some well-deserved sleep—" He turned to look at the others and dropped his hands. The tired smile he had on wiped off his face.

The boat was empty and demolished.

The main sail was tattered, leaving the camellia emblem on it ripped in half, and had scorches of black burned marks. The ground had holes broken through it and there was debris everywhere. Naruto didn't waste any time, he walked around, trying to find any clues to what could have happened while he was out but all he found was little droplets of blood. He followed the scarlet trail until he got to the door that led to the prince's room. His stomach turned and for a moment he felt like he was going to spit out the lunch he had before. He pushed the feeling away and pulled open the door.

Emptiness.

Not even a mouse scampered across the room. The trail of blood led to the middle of the room and then it disappeared. He walked to the center and stood there looking around. "Where the heck is everybody?"

He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, and continued to look around the boat. He hadn't noticed they had docked already. For a moment he thought that everyone had left to town to get some food but Kakashi would never leave the ship alone. So where could they be?

_How the heck did I not wake up? _He asked himself. He leaned over on the boat to look at the water, maybe he could find something there. And he did.

Bodies. Pale lips, hallow eyes, and lifeless skin. Without even pausing he jumped on to the water and turned over one of the bodies, it was Hinata's. Her pale skin had grown a sickly gray color, her lips had gone purple, and her eyes, those eyes that would stare at him with shyness, were now starring back with fear. His stomach was doing cartwheels and he couldn't suppress his anger anymore. It was his fault.

He lifted her into his arms and laid her on the wooden floor of the dock and then went back to look at the rest of the bodies only to find the same thing with Kakashi, Sakura, and Kiba. He laid them all together and then stared at them. The tears began forming and falling down his cheeks. He punched the ground and cursed the world.

"Why didn't I wake up? What the hell went on?!" He shouted to no one in particular.

"You went out of control." Naruto turned around to look at where the voice was coming from, it was prince Kazuhiko.

He wiped his tears away, "What do you mean?"

The prince stepped forward but kept a safe distance from the ninja, "You turned into a demon and went rampant," he nodded towards the dead bodies in front of him, "they tried to stop you but it ended up costing their lives."

Naruto turned back to look at his fallen comrades in front of him and then clutched at his stomach, "I—did this?" The prince nodded. "Why? Why do these things always happen?!" He shouted.

"I know someone who could help you control your power. Going to him will prevent this from ever happening again."

The blonde headed ninja tried to stop the tears from spilling but when he couldn't do that he cleared his throat, "Who?"

"Madara. Madara Uchiha."

He mulled over the name, Madara Uchiha, and then almost began to laugh. "Are you crazy?! Do you think this is a joke?!"

The prince rested a hand on the bewildered boy's shoulder, "Join me, Naruto."

He looked up noticing the change of voice, it was Madara Uchiha himself. He stared back at his lone eye through the mask and could start feeling himself being sucked in. He tried resisting but he was paralyzed, frozen. He couldn't move.

"Naruto…" he tried to turn his head to where the voice was coming from but the more he resisted the more it seemed he was getting sucked in.

"Naruto…. NARUTO!" He jumped up to find Sakura and Kakashi surrounding him. His heart was racing, adrenaline pumping through his veins and sweat trickling down his forehead. It was just a nightmare.

The sun was still out, the boat was still moving, no one was dead and Madara was not around. _It was all just a dream, _he kept repeating to himself. _It was just in my head._

Sakura's mouth was moving but Naruto couldn't hear a word coming out of her mouth, she was mute to him. He was still trying to think of his dream, just what the hell did it mean? It felt so real, he really thought it was happening. His eyes looked from Sakura's to Kakashi's, _I really thought… I killed you guys, _he thought.

"Are you even listening?!" Sakura asked grabbing Naruto by the ear and pulling him closer to her lips, "This is no time to be sleeping! We're on a mission not a vacation you idiot!" she shouted. She let go and Naruto fell clutching at his now throbbing ear.

Kakashi stood up, took out his book, and let Sakura handle the work. She had it all under control from what he could see.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep! It sort of just… happened," The Uzumaki said standing up.

Sakura ignored his defense, turned around and began walking back to her watch post. Naruto watched her go, a smile growing on his lips. He was glad it was nothing more than dream.

* * *

The head leader of the Yamanaka Clan waited nervously outside the Hokage's door for his turn to meet with her. These were urgent news and he didn't have time to be waiting for a cue to walk inside her office but this was Tsunade we are talking about so he was even more unease waiting. After a few minutes Kotetsu ran out the door looking anxious with a mountain of papers cradled in his arms. He sprinted past Inoichi and down the hallway. If he didn't have to deliver these news he would have smiled or even laughed, but these weren't laughing times.

He walked in and greeted the Hokage who only returned his greeting with a knowing look. "You've discovered something?"

Inoichi stepped forward and placed the report he had filed on to the Hokage's desk. He stood in front of her as she read it through, the muscles in her face forming a scarier glare as she read every page. When she finished the report she slammed her fist on her desk causing Inoichi to stare up and go back into focus. "Damn, it. Madara's always one step ahead of us."

The Yamanaka nodded, "It's a different kind of mind barrier I've never seen—or even heard of—before. Usually mind barriers simply block us from peering deeper into the prisoners memory banks," he paused recalling the image of Kiyoshi's lifeless head dangling, "this one killed the prisoner and could have done the same to me as well if I hadn't noticed soon enough."

The Hokage bit her thumb and tried to think of what to do next. "Madara did it knowing we would have you use your jutsu on him to find out more, now it's only backfire." Inoichi nodded. "We'll have Shizune and the Medic Corps do an autopsy on his body, see if we can uncover anything. I'll arrange a meeting with the Konoha Council," her stomach turned just thinking of having to sit in a room with the two geezers.

Inoichi nodded, "There is one more thing, Hokage-sama. During the Mind Reading of Kiyoshi, something started taking over my personal emotions. I don't know if it had anything to do with the barrier, but it was something I have never experienced before."

Tsunade stared at the man in front of him. _Typical of Madara,_ she thought. She couldn't take her chances on Inoichi roaming around if he had experienced something out of the norm during the interrogation. Though maybe it seemed a little drastic, this was Madara. The simplest thing could lead to catastrophic danger. "Report to the hospital, we'll have them do some tests on you."

Inoichi agreed and walked out of the room, a smirk growing on his face.

* * *

The third day had finally come to an end. The sun was covered by a dark blanket, the moon jumped out of the shadows and took its position in the sky. The only noise around was the gentle waves hitting against the ship. Small chatter escaped the boat and evaporated into the air. Naruto lay sprawled gazing at the stars, Kakashi stood by the light reading his degenerate book, Kiba rubbed Akamaru's belly as the ninken whined of the rocking ship. The two kunoichi, Sakura and Hinata, sat in a well-lighted corner trying to come up with some sort of medicine for the poor dog. Everyone was engulfed into their own business, everyone except the prince.

He wanted to leave his cabin and go join the others. Even if he didn't have anything in common with them or anything to say, he just wanted to be surrounded by them. By people. By what he hoped one day he would have, friends.

Sure, he had Daisuke and the others to keep him company but it wasn't what he looked for. He longed for a friendship he would never forget. He longed for someone he could talk to, laugh with, and be able to share things he never had with anyone else. He wanted a friend. He had one before, one he would never forget about and never let go of the memory of their existence, but that was ancient history now. Their friendship only left a dark empty hole in his heart.

He knew his duty was to serve his kingdom and his people. That was his sole purpose for existence, right? That's what he was reminded every day. Generations of royals bequeathed their power to him, all for this cause: to stop Azukitogi and keep him from terrorizing the world once again.

He was fine with that. He would give his life if it meant his people and everyone he loved were still alright. He stared up at the wooden ceiling. How long he had been alone, nothing but bitter training, in the Land of Gems. He hadn't had the time to live as a teenager, hadn't had the time to actually experience the word _fun_. So it was nothing more to him, nothing but a word.

So why was he getting so worked up over the fact that everyone was outside enjoying themselves in their own little things and enjoying each other's company? Maybe it was because he had those ties and then it was all taken away from him in a heartbeat. He didn't care for the answer if he was all that honest.

He rolled over on his bed and sat up when he heard a soft knock on the door, "Come in, Daisuke." He had gotten so use to the constant checking up on him by his attendant that he wished he had a recorder to simply record him saying that one command.

The door squeaked open to reveal a blue haired girl standing there shyly, her eyes starring anywhere but at the prince. He stood and fixed himself up a bit, he hadn't been expecting anyone but Daisuke to knock on his door.

"W-we're wondering if y-you'd like to join us outside. S-Sakura-san thought you felt a little lonely in here."

Kazuhiko smiled at her stuttering, to anyone else it would have been weird but he found it utterly irresistible. "I'd love to join you," he said following her through the door. He sat down beside the blue haired girl and watched as Sakura mixed many herbs together. "What are you doing?"

Sakura looked up from her mixing and blushed involuntarily as the prince stared at her curiously, "I'm making something for Akamaru, he isn't feeling well and we can't have him sick through the mission." Kazuhiko nodded and watched as the pink haired girl continued her mixing. When she was finished she handed it to Hinata who then took it to Kiba to give to Akamaru. The prince watched as she walked towards her teammate, a smile spreading on his face. Sakura noticed this and scooted closer to him, "So you like Hinata?"

Kazuhiko pulled away from his daze and stared at the girl embarrassed he had been caught gaping at the girl, "N-no, I just admire her is all."

In reality, he didn't know himself. He thought the girl was stunning and kind but he wasn't sure if he felt anything more. He hadn't known her long enough.

Sakura stared at Hinata and couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy towards her. She was beautiful, kind, and though maybe she didn't really see it, talented. Her shyness kept the boys from really approaching her but here was prince Kazuhiko seeing past that and wanting to talk to her and get to know her. She moved her eyes to Naruto who seemed to be passed out cold. Did he know how Hinata felt towards him?

Probably not. He was so dense, he wouldn't realize it even if Hinata spelled it out for him. She wanted to do something to help, something to get him to realize how amazing Hinata truly was and how they both deserved each other.

Something turned inside her stomach, _he deserves her_, she thought. She had hurt Naruto too much. She had lied to him straight to his face for her own benefit. She was one of the reasons he was so obsessed with trying to bring Sasuke back. If anything, she had caused Naruto too much pain. He deserved to be happy and so did Hinata.

Kazuhiko waved a hand in front of her, "Are you alright?"

She jumped up and smiled weakly, "Yes, sorry."

He nodded towards Naruto, "I was asking if Hinata-san had a uh—a boyfriend. I always see her getting really nervous over that one." Sakura let out a small laugh and shook her head no. The blue haired girl walked back and sat next to her pink haired friend.

"Kiba-kun was being very stubborn about the medicine but he finally decided to give it to Akamaru," she said as she sat down.

The prince looked up at the moon and then began to stand, "Thank you for letting me join you tonight, Sakura-san," he bowed towards her and then looked at Hinata, giving her a genuine smile, "goodnight, Hinata-san," he said bowing and then leaving towards his cabin.

Sakura stared as he walked away, _he's going to be a problem, _she thought. She smirked to herself, finally thinking up the first approach to her plan. She stood up, dusting herself off she said, "I think I'm going to go and get some rest too."

Hinata looked up bewildered, "B-but, Sakura-san, you have night watch w-with Naruto-kun."

Sakura stretched her arms behind her head and turned to look at the Hyūga, "You can cover for me, and I'll take it with Kiba."

Hinata looked at her with wide eyes, "A-are you sure?"

She waved her off, "Yeah, I'm sure he won't mind and neither will Kakashi sensei. Plus, I'll just end up heating my head with that boy. Just make sure to wake him up."

Hinata searched her eyes before she turned around and walked away. Part of her was happy that Sakura had given her the opportunity to get closer to Naruto but another part of her was dying with nervousness. They wouldn't be able to talk, would they? They'd have to be on guard, so no distractions. _But you get to be able to get closer to him, alone, _one part of her said. She pushed the thought away, first she had to worry about waking up the Uzumaki.

She walked towards the boy's body that was sprawled on the wooden floor and kneeled down beside him. She didn't know what to do after that. Her heart was pounding, her cheeks were the color of roses, and her palms were beginning to grow sweaty. If she couldn't even wake him up what made her think that she could be on night watch with him, regardless if they spoke or not?

Before she began losing hope Kakashi walked beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll wake him." She gave him a thanking smile and moved aside. Kakashi kneeled next to the boy and slapped his cheek lightly with his book, "Naruto, Naruto wake up." He stirred a little and turned his head away from the masked ninja. Kakashi sighed, "Very well, you want to play like that?"

Kakashi formed the Tiger hand seal, causing Hinata to back away with caution. She would have rather had Kakashi wake Naruto for her but not to actually hurt him. Was he really that much of a heavy sleeper that Kakashi had to expel chakra in order to wake him?

He shoved his fingers into Naruto's bottom, "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu: One Thousand Years of Death!"

Hinata stared dumfounded, that was it? She blushed and tried to suppress her laughter. Naruto bolted up, tears falling out of his eyes as he grabbed at his butt, "Kakashi sensei!" he cried.

The Jōnin smiled beneath his mask, stood back up, and waved at Hinata, "My job here is done, see ya!" he said walking away.

Naruto stared at him and began waving his arms around the air, "What do you mean your job is done? Hey—hey! Kakashi sensei, I'm not done with you! Get back here!" He shouted. When he realized Kakashi was never going to come back, he turned back to Hinata.

"Uh, where's Sakura?"

Hinata twiddled her fingers nervously and looked down at her small fidgeting fingers, "S-Sakura-san said t-that she would take her t-turn with Kiba-kun."

Naruto stared at her for a long moment, taking it all in. The violation caused by Kakashi, Hinata's stuttering, Sakura ditching him for a dog boy. And then, he smiled, "Sounds great, Hinata!"

Hinata looked up from her fingers to see Naruto standing inches away from her giving her his famous trademark grin. She took in one quick breath and fell backwards. Naruto moved forward quickly to catch her and sighed, _that was close, _he thought.

He laid her down and sat beside her, _might as well start our shift now then,_ he said to himself.

Everyone else was now asleep. The lights on the boat were off except the moonlight shinning down to provide enough light to see their surroundings. Besides the ocean, there was nothing. Naruto was slowly growing tired of the vast ocean. He missed seeing land, seeing other people other than Kiba. He was starting to get tired of him too. If Akamaru woke him up one more time with the licking he might just Rasengan him in the ass. He laughed thinking of it.

The calm breathing coming from the girl beside him drew his attention. Her slow, deep breaths gave off that she was having a tranquil dream but Naruto didn't want to bother her. He actually liked watching her sleep. He stole another glance of the sleeping Hyūga, and then another, and then another and he couldn't help himself anymore. Now that he thought about it, this was the second time he had ever really gotten this close to Hinata. The first time being when he went on that mission in search for the Bikōchū beetle with Squad 8. He laughed to himself remembering what a fail that was. This was his first real time he could _really _look at her. He saw no harm if he did it.

His eyes moved across her soft features. Her pale, unblemished skin was glowing under the moonlight. Her expression was that of serenity that only sleep could bring but it seemed as if it were natural on her. He never realized it before but Hinata was really beautiful.

_Wait, did I really just think that? _He scratched his head confused by his own thoughts. He continued to stare at the girl. The light of the moon was hitting her face just right, her eyelashes touched her cheeks gently, and her lips looked almost as if she was smiling, floating through a pleasant dream. She really did look lovely.

_Yeah, she's beautiful but she's well—Hinata!_ He laughed softly out loud and shook his head. He liked Sakura, right? _Sakura-chan has had my heart since the first time I saw her. She is… she's well…_

Now that he thought about it he couldn't really think of a reason for why he was head over heels for the pink hair kunoichi. He pressed on his thoughts to try and squeeze out for why his teammate made him swoon so much but he surprised himself when he came up with a blank. He dismissed the forgetfulness and decided it would eventually come to him but it kept prying back to the front of his mind. The unwanted thoughts kept pushing and pushing on him the more he tried to forget and then that was all he could think about until a particularly uninvited one came up.

The Land of Iron.

It had been a dream come true that the girl he had fallen head over heels for was finally confessing her love for him. But it was nothing like how he wanted it. He thought that when Sakura finally felt what he felt for her he would be the happiest person alive. But he wasn't. Instead he was annoyed, angry even. He felt _nothing_.

He knew she was lying.

He had never told her but Sakura's little 'confession' had actually hurt him more than he showed. It had cut him deeper than any wound he had ever gotten before. But the different thing about this wound was it couldn't be healed, at least that's how it felt. He hated being lied to, but to be lied to by a friend, and one he felt something for, it just hurt. He couldn't put it any other way.

She had used his feelings for her own reasons. He had loved her, really _loved_ her and she took it as if it were a toy and tried to manipulate him.

When Sai informed him that Sakura was just doing it to get him to stop chasing after Sasuke, he could see why she did it. Although it still hurt, he could still see through Sakura's eyes and through her reasons. She was just trying to fix something she felt was her fault. It took some time but Naruto finally came to forgive his teammate for her actions.

But that had changed something. When he asked her out on dates, it didn't feel like he really wanted to. He did but then at the same time he didn't. He no longer blushed around her when she was around him. Something was missing but he didn't know what it was…

He decided to forget about the confusing feelings he had and really pushed the thoughts away this time. Then they moved to something that had really been bothering him since it had happened, his nightmare. As he stared more and more at Hinata he had the urge to touch her cheek and feel the warmth, to touch her wrist and make sure her skin still had a pulse, itched away at his body. _It was just a dream, nothing more, _he had to keep repeating to himself. _But it felt so real._

He turned his gaze up towards the sky. He loved it. If there was anything good about this mission it was that he got to see the stars clearly at night. It made him think of Jiraiya, how he missed that pervy old fool.

Back when he was still training under the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya would take him out to walk on the mountains to practice better chakra control. When they would get to the top the stars would welcome them as they lay on the grass and stared up. A tear fell down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away. Jiraiya wouldn't want him crying.

_He would want you at some whore house having 'fun' for him, _a voice at the back of his head said making him grin.

He didn't know what it was like to have a father let alone know what it's like to feel fatherly love but Jiraiya was the closest he had ever felt something that he thought could be parental love. If he could see him now, would he have been proud that he had spoken everything out with Nagato?

Yeah, he would.

He had been so engulfed in his own thoughts he hadn't heard the creaking of the wooden floor and the silence around him. He turned to see if the girl had woken up to find her walking towards the railing of the boat.

She put one leg over the railing

Pulled the other one as well and sat on the wooden thing

Then she jumped.


	4. Chapter 4: Hinata's Melody

**Chapter 4: Hinata's Melody**

The world moved in slow motion the second her body disconnected itself from the railing. Her eyes stayed shut, her eyelashes blanketing her cheeks. Her hair was being pushed back by the wind as she fell forward. If she had been awake and not about to fall into what could be her death, she would have felt like she was flying. The world around her was mute and she liked it that way. It felt perfect, quiet, a beautiful world to just sleep and never wake up—

"Hinata!"

Her eyes opened lazily from her slumber at the piercing scream of her name. She blinked against the wind, her mouth opened to scream but nothing came out. Her slow motion and quiet world was now high speed and violent. There were shouts of panic above her and violent waves threatening to engulf her bellow. She brought her arms up to cover her face and shut her eyes. Something warm shielded her head and put an arm around her.

And then she fell.

The ocean engulfed her with a loud, ear shattering splash. Whatever was holding her must have taken the majority of the impact because she didn't feel a thing. The water crept up her spine and escaped out of her jacket, sending cold waves through her body. She snuggled her head into whatever was so warm against her head, it was the only warmth in this dark damp place. She could feel them going deeper and deeper into the ocean and getting lost into the abyss. For a moment she thought there was no end their falling.

The air in her lungs was disappearing and although she was trying to hold on, she didn't think she could any longer. Bubbles escaped her mouth as she tried to hold all of the air she had in her body. _Is this where I'm going to die? Disappear into the ocean, into the dark? _She struggled to get away from the grip that was holding her. _No, I will not die here. _She screamed, water filled her mouth and swam down her throat. She kicked to get away from whatever was keeping her restrained. She regretted it the second she lost all the air she was saving.

Her lungs were being smothered by the water. She forced herself to fight, to hold on to life but the burning in her chest was too much to bear.

The hold around her body got tighter but she didn't give in. She jerked and tried to swim away but before she could continue to fight, she was being zoomed up. Her body was being pulled upwards and then she was out of the water gasping for air and trying to cough up all the water that inhabited her.

She was flying through the sky, she looked to see what was holding her so tightly, it was Naruto. All she could do was stare in awe as he tried to speak to her. But she couldn't hear anything. He stared at her with such determination, she blinked and she could finally hear his words.

"Hinata, wake up! Breathe!" She looked down, they were so high up. How'd they get so high? A scream escaped her lips as the ship came closer and closer into view. They were going to crash. Without warning Naruto let the girl go and did a quick hand sign. Thousands of clones exploded around them and headed towards the ship to pile on top of each other and provide a softer landing.

He grabbed her again by the waist, "Close your eyes," he shouted. But she couldn't, she wanted to see this. She wasn't afraid anymore. The wind pushed her hair out of her eyes and cooled her cheeks. It felt exhilarating, you were falling but it felt like flying. She wanted to pull away from the boy and fall by herself, to move around the air freely and really act like she could fly. But then again, how many times was Naruto going to hold her like this?

Her daze soon came to an abrupt halt once they landed face first into the mountain of shadow clones. They all disappeared the second their bodies touched them, leaving behind a huge cloud of white smoke. Naruto kept his tight hold on her waist until they hit the solid wooden floor and were pulled away from each other from the impact. Hinata rolled into a crate, her head banging against it, and Naruto rolled to the other side of the ship, quickly stopping his body from hitting anything.

Hinata, whose eyes had closed when she realized the shadow clones wouldn't resist their heavy wet bodies, finally opened her eyes and blinked into the crate that had stopped her from hitting the wall full force. Her head was throbbing and her throat was dry. She tried to lift herself up but ended up just falling back down. Her strength had disappeared and left her muscles feeling like ramen noodles. Her lungs were burning and dying to get more oxygen into her body but something was clogging her air way.

Footsteps came running to her side frantically and someone turned her over. Her eyes were hazed and everything around her was blurry and unfocused. "Hinata… Hinata, stay with us!" The voices were in her ears but were slowly fading into her surroundings. Her eyes closed and her head fell limply to the side.

* * *

In Konoha, the moon hung low by a thread of stars. Inoichi moved through the streets without anywhere in mind to go. His legs had a mind of their own now and moved freely around the village without his consent. He was simply a puppet that went along with it. Children ran past him on their way to their homes before it became too late and their mothers began to worry, citizens of his village greeted him and made small talk, he wasn't really paying attention though. His mind was elsewhere along with his sense of direction.

He sat in a nearby bench and stared in front of him at the trees. The nurse had said that he was fine earlier that day. She said nothing was out of the norm but she said it in a way that made him think she was keeping something from him. Regardless, he couldn't help but disagree with her, something was different about him but not even he knew what it was. He couldn't shake this feeling of something being in him. Even to himself he sounded mad but it was a feeling that would not go away.

His head pumped. The image of a worn down house came to him. Vines and moss grew on the roof and on its face like if it was a green mask. The vegetation around the house was gone, only little patches here and there were scattered around. The windows were broken, some missing the glass completely. The image got clearer, inside the left window stood a person cloaked in the darkness.

He grabbed at his head from the pain. _Just what the hell is this?_ He asked squeezing his head. The pain was becoming unbearable, he fell to the ground clutching his head and soon enough he was unconscious.

He awoke in a dark room. Something inside him told his brain he knew this place all too well. He didn't panic, he knew what he was doing here. The moonlight showing through one of the windows blinded his eyes and he squinted through it until his eyes became adjusted. He looked around until he saw the figure in one of the corners. He rose.

"I'm glad you've come. Part one has been a success. You have done a good job," the figure stepped forward, "Kiyoshi."

* * *

Hinata woke up lying under a cherry blossom tree. Its petals were scattered around her like a blanket on the vibrant green grass. She sat up and yawned as she stretched her rested muscles. She didn't know where she was and why, but she was well rested.

She twiddled with the grass for a while, not knowing what else to do. She tried to dig deep into her subconscious to try and find something that could tell her why she was there and for what purpose but she couldn't remember anything. She felt like she needed to know more. Needed to know a lot more than she knew now but all she remembered was her name. At least that's all she could think of now. She reached for her head quickly but it felt fine. _So how did I end up here?_ She asked herself.

She fiddled with the petals that were sprinkled all around her as she tried to search her mind for an inkling of how she ended up at the place she was at now but she came up empty handed. She decided to lie back down and take another nap. If it was important it would come to her. She awoke again at the feeling of someone stroking her hair. Her head was on something warm and soft, nothing like the cool grass that she had thought she had fallen asleep on before. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly.

Next to her was a women with fair skin and long, dark, eggplant hair that fell slightly past her waist. She had side bangs that framed her face and fell down to her shoulders. She wore a piercing white kimono with gold vines stitched at the bottom. Hinata's eyes stared at her up and down and let it all sink in. A small smile began to grow on her face, her eyes began to water, she opened her mouth to say something but then the women pulled her into a tight embrace. ( /O67bH25sO4A )

"Kaa-chan," she said into the women's shoulder. The tears began to fall down her cheeks but they weren't from sadness, or anger, or even frustration from the lack of memory. They were tears of joy.

The women stroked Hinata's hair and held her closer. "Oh, Hinata. Don't cry my child."

The blue haired girl sniffled and pulled away to see her mother closely, _it really is her._ "I've missed you so much. It's been so hard with just Oto-san," she began to cry again and was pulled into another embrace.

Hinata's mother shushed her daughter, "It's alright. I'm here now. We're here together." She stroked her daughter's hair to calm her tears and began to hum a melody. Hinata smiled at the soothing notes that were filling the air around her. It took her back to a day in the garden. She was running around with her younger sister, the smell of cinnamon rolls escaped the kitchen and drifted to where the girls played. Her mother stood watching them, humming this very song.

The melody escaped her mother's lips and disappeared with the wind. The cherry blossom began to sway with the music as she continued with her notes. Hinata looked at her mother, trying to take in every detail of her and keep it forever. It all felt like a dream. She continued to hum and wiped the trail of tears off her daughter's cheeks and smiled. Hinata joined in to the melody that she knew so well. They harmonized together and the cherry blossom swayed even more, almost as if agreeing to the gift they were giving to the air.

The wind waltzed in gracefully, lifting Hinata's blue strands and dancing with it. She closed her eyes and breathed in the cool air as it splashed her face. She could still smell the cinnamon rolls. She could still hear the laughter in the garden as she ran around. She could still see the smile painted on her mother's face. For just a moment she wanted to escape to that once again, to a time that was much simpler. Her eyes opened and she stared down at her lap, "Everything was so simple then, wasn't it, kaa-chan?"

Her mother nodded, "But it's the luxury of living that you have to face problems that only make you stronger."

"I know… I just don't understand sometimes."

"Do you know why you are here my child?"

Hinata picked up a cherry blossom and stroked it, "No, I don't remember anything really," she rubbed her head. "I remember a few things but when I try to think of how I got here… It's just blank."

"I see."

Hinata looked up at her mother, "Kaa-chan, do you know why I am here?"

The women smiled, "I don't believe it's my place to tell you child."

The Hyūga stared anxiously at her mother, "I try to remember something but then my head just starts to ache. I can't remember anything besides my name… And you, kaa-chan!"

It was silent for a moment before her mother said anything, "It's too soon for you to be here, Hinata."

The girl pulled her eyes from the petal and stared at her mother confused, "What do you mean?"

The fair skinned women looked back at Hinata and tried to smile, "Don't worry dear. It's alright," she stood and offered her daughter a hand. "You're time isn't now."

Hinata was still confused. She still had no idea why she was there and how she had gotten there in the first place. She knew something was bothering her mother too but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. She didn't know what was going on or what her mother was even talking about. She didn't want to leave though. She wanted to stay with her mother and lay there under the cherry blossom tree and just continue to take in the motherly love she was getting. She missed it so much, it had been too long since she saw her mother smile, heard her mother's melody.

"I- I don't want to leave, kaa-chan. I want to stay here, stay here with you!" She pleaded. "Please, I don't even remember anything! How am I supposed to go back to something I don't remember? I remember you, I want to be here with you." Her mother shook her head no and placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Hinata stared at her in surprise, finally calming down and letting herself just listen.

"It would be too selfish of me to keep you here with me," she bent down and picked up a petal off the ground and stuck it behind her daughter's ear. "I owe you more than this for leaving you and Hanabi at such a young age."

Hinata's eyes began to water again but she pushed the tears back, "No, kaa-chan. You've done a lot for Hanabi and me especially. Your presence never leaves my heart." She grabbed her mother's hand and clasped it in her own, "You've given me a goal to strive for."

Her mother looked down at the girl before her, smiling. "I'm sorry, Hinata. We'll meet again, just not now my dear."

Hinata looked down at their entwined hands as hers were beginning to fade away. Her fingers and legs were disappearing slowly as well. She looked at her mother panicked who only gave her a reassuring smile. "It's alright, do not fear." Her mother stepped closer and kissed her on the forehead, "You'll know when the time is right my child," she said with a small smile. Hinata stared at her bewildered and tried to pull her mother closer to her just to have her arms go right through her body. She kept trying to grab her mother but it was no use. "You've truly bloomed into a beautiful flower, Hinata," she whispered as the wind carried away the cherry blossom petals and her daughter on its shoulder.

* * *

It was dark, cold, and rocking. Hinata blinked her eyes opened, finally coming back to reality. Her head was throbbing, her throat felt like sand paper had rubbed up against it, and her lungs burned. She began to cough and water escaped her lips. Her breathing was ragged and she held her sides as she continued to cough up more and more water. All of it escaping her body and splashing the ground. When it was finally over she lay her head back down on the pillow and continued to stare up at the ceiling, chest heaving up and down. Someone rushed in, "Hinata?" they asked panicked.

She turned her head weakly to see who was standing in the door way, her eyes were still hazed but she could recognize the pink haired girl regardless. She gave her a weak smile, "Sakura-san."

The girl stood there for a moment, trying to take it all in and then she was running to the weak girl, pulling her in for an embrace. Hinata was confused by what was going on so she sat there and let the girl hold her tightly. Her tears seeped through her clothes and wet her shoulder slightly. When she pulled away, Sakura wiped her tears away and gave her a smile. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I—we were all so worried. Do you feel better now?"

Hinata clutched at her side, "I-I'm fine," she said weakly.

The pink haired kunoichi smiled at the stuttering, "Can you stand? I'm sure everyone else wants to see you."

She moved the sheets off the girl and helped her sit up and get on her feet. Hinata's feet touched the cool wooden floor beneath her and her toes curled at the coldness. Sakura put an arm around her waist and helped her up. At first the girl felt like she couldn't stand but she forced her body to cooperate. They walked towards the door and out into the gray world.

Hinata had to squint at the sudden brightness. Though it was gray outside and the sky seemed sad, it was still bright. Everyone was huddled around her door sitting, standing, or pacing back and forth. Kiba lifted his head from pacing and stopped quickly at the sight of the two girls that had just emerged out of the room. He stared in awe at the girl Sakura was holding up. He ran towards her, a big smile plastered on his face. "Hinata," he said, "You're awake! You're alright!" He took her off Sakura's hands and helped her sit down on a nearby crate, Akamaru nudged her hand and she began to stroke his warm white fur. "I'm so glad you're awake. We thought you we—"

"How are you feeling, Hinata?" Kakashi asked standing up from where he was sitting.

Hinata looked up from Akamaru and at the masked ninja, "I feel fine now, just a bit light headed."

"That prince sure knows how to work miracles!" Kiba said after being interrupted by the Jōnin. Hinata looked around to find the prince and then looked at Kiba, "Where is the prince?"

"He's resting in the servant's quarters. When you fell unconscious he took you into his room and performed a secret jutsu that the Kingdom of Camellias is known for. It exerted a lot of his chakra so he went to rest," Kakashi answered.

"Yeah! We didn't think it worked though. Sakura said your chakra flow had stopped. We thought you were dead, I was so sca—"

"Shut up, Kiba."

Everyone turned to look at Naruto who was leaning against a railing starring out at the wide ocean. Hinata studied him. His eyes were tired, his clothes were wet, and his hair was all over the place. She blushed and looked down. Sakura smiled at the girl, she was fine.

Kiba clenched his teeth at him, "What's your problem, huh?" Naruto ignored him.

Kakashi stared at the girl, "Hinata."

She looked up, "Yes?"

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

* * *

Tsunade stood in her office starring out her window, hands on hips. She was worried for the team she had deployed days before on a mission. _If Madara has more to do with the prince then we know… It will turn out to be more than an A-Rank mission._ She bit her thumb and stared intently outside.

It was still foggy and gray outside. A storm was on its way surely but that wasn't what she was worried about. She turned back to her desk and stared at the map that was rolled out. In less than a day they would be arriving at the last port. She wanted to tell herself everything was going to be fine, they were almost at the Island of Camellias but something was still clawing at the back of her head.

"Tsunade-sama, are you still worried about Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked from the side. She held Tonton tight in her arms.

Tsunade stared at the map more closely, "No, it isn't Naruto I'm worried about."

"But don't you think it was a little too dangerous to send him on this mission? Especially since Madara is involved."

"No, Naruto can hold his own," she said as she rolled up the map. She couldn't stand around and worry about them right then. She had other matters to attend to. That team was grouped with specialized and trained ninjas, they would be fine.

"Shizune," the women holding the pink pig stood up straight at the Hokage's commanding voice. "How's the autopsy on the man we interrogated going?"

Shizune placed Tonton down and handed the Hokage a folder. "We haven't uncovered anything serious yet," she took the folder and sat down to begin going through it. "But there is something strange."

Tsunade looked up from the folder, "Strange?"

Shizune walked in front of the Hokage's desk and took the folder from her to open to a picture. It was the picture of the prisoner stripped down and laid down on a metal table. His skin was pale and his naked body bared dark symbols going across his chest.

"What is this?"

Shizune pulled out several other pictures that were close ups of the symbols on the man's body. "I'm not sure but they were all over his body. I scratched off a sample of it to see what it was made of but it was his skin. It's like he was born with it, a strange birth mark."

Tsunade studied the pictures more closely, "Do you know what the symbols can mean?"

"No, Tsunade-sama, I don't. That's why I wanted to ask you if you could send these pictures to the Cryptanalysis Team to see if they can uncover something."

The Hokage nodded, "Very well. Have you done any tests on the purple foam?"

Shizune nodded, "We're still in the process of studying it, Tsunade-sama." She handed the folder back to the Hokage. "There is one thing I was curious about though. How did the tests results come out for Inoichi-san?"

The Hokage reached out to get a manila folder off the corner of her desk and looked through the papers, "The tests came out pretty good. There is one thing that has been bothering me lately." She pulled out a black picture with white lines, "During the tests the nurse said he was conscious, he was fully there. But look at this," Shizune looked more closely at the picture and her eyes widened. "They're theta brain waves."

"Is that possible?"

"Not unless he's about to be asleep. It's strange, so I asked her to take the tests every day since the day of the interrogation," she lined up the three pictures from the first day to that day. "The first two are theta waves but look at this," she tapped at the third picture, "Delta brain waves."

Shizune stared down at the pictures confused, "Was he asleep?"

"No, in fact, I had sent him on a mission before that scan, he shouldn't have been asleep. The nurse took notes on his actions, according to her he was fully there and awake."

Shizune looked at the Hokage with worry, "Could he be in a genjutsu?"

"I don't know. If he is then this is a very strange genjutsu, one I've never seen before. But the fact that he's conscious to our eyes and this scan shows delta waves… It's strange."

"What are you planning on doing then, Tsunade-sama?"

She stared intently at the pictures on her desk, "Shizune, get Gai and his team here, quickly!"

Shizune jumped up, "R-right, Tsunade-sama, but why?"

Tsunade gave her a look that meant no questions asked and the assistant ran out the room. Tonton stared at the Hokage and she bent down to pick up the pink animal. She stood and continued to look out her window.

"Just what the hell are you planning Madara?" she asked out loud to the empty room.

* * *

Hinata blinked at Kakashi. Her eyes were blank and her throat formed a huge knot. Her head started throbbing and she clutched at it. Sakura went to her side, "Are you alright? You should go and lie down." Hinata shook her head, "I'm fine, Sakura-san."

Sakura pulled back and stared at the girl with worry, "You shouldn't push yourself. It's alright if you can't remember."

After the pain started fading she opened her eyes and looked back at the masked ninja, "I-I don't remember."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask at the girl, "That's fine. It'll come to you. Do you remember anything that happened before?"

Hinata mulled it over and then a string of images went through her mind. A grotesque face, a pool of blood, her father, dead bodies sprawled before her, Naruto starring at her with lifeless eyes and then they were gone just as fast as they had come. She opened her mouth to say something but then shook her head no slowly.

She didn't want to relive those images.

Kakashi sighed, "That's alright. You should go and rest. We'll be docking soon." Hinata nodded and Sakura helped her up to walk back to the room. After she helped Hinata into her bed she walked back to the group and sat down on the crate the blue haired girl was sitting on before. She let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad she's alright," she whispered.

Kiba nodded, "Me too. I thought she was a goner for sure."

"I told you to shut up, Kiba," Naruto said clenching his fists. Kiba glared at him but before he could say anything the blonde ninja pulled off the railing and made his way below deck where their rooms were. The ninken specialist turned to the girl next to him, "What's his problem?"

Sakura stared at the place where Naruto was standing just a few moments ago. "He thinks it's his fault," she said. "He thinks Hinata's close death was his entire fault." _Typical Naruto,_ she thought. _Always putting all the blame on his shoulders._

Kiba shook his head, "I'll go put some sense into him. Come on, Akamaru!" Sakura lifted her hand to stop him but then Kakashi just shook his head at her.

"Let him go."

She stared at him for a long moment before nodding. Kakashi took out his book and began to walk away before stopping again. He turned his head slightly to her, "Don't worry about Naruto, Sakura. He'll come around again."

She just looked back down at her hands. Then it hit her. She could use this to her advantage. It was perfect. She could use this to get Naruto and Hinata closer together. She smiled at her brilliantness. Now she just had to think of how she would go about this. She'd need help, she looked around the ship. Only Kakashi was above deck, Naruto and Kiba were below. Hinata was in the prince's room and the prince and his attendants were in the servant quarters. She wanted to ask Kiba but he was talking with Naruto.

Kakashi probably wouldn't approve and the prince would only get in the way. She stared straight ahead at the door that led to where the prince was. She was sure everyone was thankful for him. If it wasn't for him Hinata probably wouldn't have made it. She stared down at her hands, her medical ninjutsu didn't work on Hinata, her pulse had stopped completely. She was gone no matter how hard she tried.

_But the prince's jutsu did work. It saved her life, _she thought. _But it took a giant toll on his body._ After he performed his jutsu on the blue haired Hyūga he had almost passed out from fatigue. His attendants quickly ushered him into their quarters where he was resting right now. Sakura had never seen such a jutsu like that before. She had never even heard of it.

During her training with the Fifth Hokage she had read so many medical books and studied so many medical jutsus but she had never even heard of one that could bring back a person right after their pulse and chakra circulation stopped. It was a miracle jutsu.

A loud thump made her look up from her thoughts. They were approaching tall gray rocks that were pointed at the very top. A thick fog was beginning to grow around the boat. On instinct she pulled out a kunai knife and ran towards where the prince was resting. She pushed her legs to go as fast as they could only to trip on something, a body.

She lifted herself up to look at the body that had fallen before her, it was Kakashi's. She didn't have time to focus on her fallen comrade, she had to protect the prince at all cost. It meant the world. She looked around, senses heightened, to sense the enemies presence. Her back was against the door and her kunai was pointed in ready position. Something began to move in the thick fog she squinted and the figure moved closer slowly. Her kunai shook in her hand before falling to the ground, making a loud cling that echoed in the air. Her eyes widened and her heart was pumping faster as the figure became more and more clear.

It was Sasuke Uchiha.


	5. Chapter 5: The Genjutsu

**Chapter 5: The Genjutsu**

Usually, when you haven't seen someone you love for a while because they've been gone for too long, you get happy. Warmth and giddiness takes over your body and all you want to do is laugh and jump around because this person you haven't seen in so long returned. But Sakura didn't feel that way.

She wasn't sure how she felt if she was all that honest with herself. Something like fear, shock, maybe even a little frustration, but nothing like joy. Happiness was a feeling far from what she felt at that moment.

Sakura stared at Sasuke like a deer in headlights. Her mouth was slightly opened, words wanting to come out but nothing did. Her hand quivered slightly and was still gripped as if the kunai was still in her hand. She was paralyzed. ( /mqVKqMdqbgU )

A weird feeling in her stomach was growing that made her want to spit up the food she had eaten earlier. Fear, anger, and nervousness were swimming around in her stomach. All these emotions swirling around in her blood stream, in her body, with anguish to top it off. Her heart ached, her stomach turned, and all because this one boy—who she hadn't seen in so long—had showed up out of midair in front of her. All she could think about was this sickening feeling in her stomach and heart and nothing else.

"You were always weak when I was around. It was so annoying," he said, his voice filled with disgust.

She pulled out of her daze and tried to pull words out of her throat and through her mouth. "S-Sasuke…" her voice was low, barely above a whisper. She couldn't tell whether she had really said it or if it was just in her mind. She tried again this time a little louder, "S-Sasuke, it's you."

Sasuke stepped closer, finally fully revealing himself out of the mist. "Sakura, move."

She stared at him longer, trying to put the puzzle piece together on why he was there and what he wanted. "Why?"

He placed a hand on his sheath, as if to threaten her. She saw his discrete movement and quickly pulled out another kunai and held it up in defense. "I asked why." She was brought a back from the sudden assertiveness in her tone.

_I will kill him this time, _she thought. _I won't back down, not this time._

_~ Flashback ~_

_Her hand quivered behind the black haired renegade. The kunai shook violently in her hand and she tried her hardest to fight back the tears. She had to do this, now._

_Sasuke turned quickly at the sense of her presence. A mad look in his eye, the look of a predator that wouldn't hold back for anyone. Not even an old teammate. All Sakura could do was stand there startled by his eyes. Her breath was glued to her throat, her legs were frozen, she was just there._

_Something grabbed her by the throat, strong cold hands that gripped her neck with the intent to break. The air couldn't escape. Her arms were like noodles, all she could do was hold on to the kunai. She was supposed to kill him not the other way around. She was supposed to put a stop to him. Someone was screaming her name, who was screaming her name? "Sakura!" they shouted. She couldn't think clearly anymore. All she could think about was how it was getting harder to breathe._

_She could feel herself being raised up. Her legs being pulled up away from the water. The kunai was pulled out of her hand. Her eyes were still shut. The empty feeling in her hand made her feel foreign. She had been gripping it too hard. She tried to open her eyes a bit: Sasuke raised the kunai over his head_

"_Stop, Sasuke!" that was Kakashi, she could hear his frantic footsteps running on the water._

_Sakura looked at Kakashi, _he wouldn't make it on time, _she thought. She looked at Sasuke, she couldn't recognize his eyes anymore. They were dark, lost. He wasn't Sasuke anymore. He was a killing machine who was about to take away her life without a second thought. All the missions they went on together, the Chūnin exams, trying to see what was under Kakashi's mask, trying to take the bells away from Kakashi. Everything they did together with Naruto as Squad 7 flashed through her mind._

_She looked at the kunai and almost laughed. Here she was again, hopeless like a little bunny rabbit, about to be killed with her own kunai and all she could do was watch her predator look at her with no sympathy. A predator that once was her own friend._

_He started moving the kunai forward; it itched closer to her face. She stared at it, her eyes wide with fear. He twisted his wrist a bit so he could stab her, this was where it was going to end, and it wouldn't be Sasuke's end either._

_The sound of metal meeting skin made her cringe. But she couldn't feel anything. She could breathe again. Her throat felt lose. Something was holding her tight, someone warm. Kakashi had made it on time after all._

_No. It wasn't Kakashi, she looked up at the blonde ninja, her eyes still trying to take everything in that was going on. It was Naruto. He had come to her rescue once again._

_~ End of flashback ~_

She gripped the kunai tighter in front of her, the quivering finally fading away. _That day, if it wasn't for Naruto, I wouldn't be here right now. Naruto won't be coming to my rescue. It's now or never, _she told herself.

Sasuke scoffed at her sudden mood change but his cold glare was never fading. "Nothing you say or do will stop me. I came here for the prince, that's all. If you get in my way I'll have to get rid of you."

The words stung. They were like cold knives stabbing into her heart. She did have feelings for him still, he was her first love. She knew what she had to do, she had to forget about the words he was throwing at her like daggers and go forth with what she didn't do before.

She focused all of her chakra on the hand that would bring down the kunai to ensure a strong and direct hit. Her eyes focused on Sasuke's chest, she lifted the kunai—just as Sasuke did that day—and slammed it in.

But it wasn't Sasuke's chest or any part of his body. She stared at what was in front of her. Eyes widening and growing larger and more confused as she looked. Naruto's hand, that was now dripping blood, had stopped her kunai. She leaped back, pushing her back against the servant's door and wiped the sweat that was forming on her forehead.

"Naruto? What are you doing!?"

Naruto lowered his hand and pulled the kunai out of it and let it fall to the ground. "I won't let you kill Sasuke."

"What are you talking about, Naruto?!"

"You love him still, you can't kill someone you love, Sakura."

Silence for a moment, she opened her mouth to say something and then Naruto cut her off before the words could spill out. "Haven't you hurt me enough, Sakura?"

She stared at him, her words frozen on her tongue. What could she possibly say? He was right. She had hurt him enough. She lied to his face, regardless if it was to save him, she lied to him. She took advantage of his feelings for her and used it to manipulate him.

"You played with my head, Sakura," he said. Sasuke smirked.

"You're so pathetic."

Sakura shifted her eyes towards the closed eye, smirking ninja. "You were always weak and just a burden to everyone," he opened his eyes and stared straight at her. "People like you don't belong in this world."

"You chose Sasuke over me. He never even liked you," Naruto said as he took a step forward.

"How many times have we've had to save you but you could never do the same for us, you're useless," Sasuke stepped forward.

"Do you remember what you said that day Sakura? During our first day as Team 7? You said the one thing you hated…was me. You said you hated me, Sakura."

"How do you continue to love someone that has tried to kill you? Who cares nothing for you?"

"You lied to me, Sakura. You played with my head and my emotions."

Her eyes were beginning to fill up once again. They were right. All the things they were saying were right. She shut her eyes and tried to smother the tears but her efforts were futile. When she opened them again they were only feet away from her now. Her heart race picked up.

She was a kunoichi. She couldn't let simple insults get to her. She reached with a shaking hand for another kunai and tried to see through her tears.

Sasuke laughed, "Such a feeble attempt. You don't really think you can take me down, do you?" His hand rose and blue lightning began to emit from it, a low sound like birds coming from all the energy. Sakura stood her ground and raised the kunai in ready position. Naruto simply stood next to the renegade.

The Uchiha's Sharingan was activated and before she could pull her eyes away from his, she was paralyzed. "I'll rid the world of your pitiful existence." The smirk on his face grew into a look of malice as he dashed forward and then before she could think a second thought, his hand was through her heart.

She coughed blood, the world spun, and she fell.

* * *

"You disgrace the Hyūga name, Hinata."

Hinata blinked her eyes out of sleep and turned sideways to where the insult came from. It was Hiashi Hyūga. She stood up quickly and greeted him, "H-hello, Oto-san."

His arms were crossed over his chest and his lavender eyes bore into Hinata's profile. The look of disappointment and disgust filled the blue haired girl's insides with anxiety. She knew she had failed her father once again.

"It's no surprise you've failed another mission. Not only that but you also managed to make yourself more useless than before."

She kept her lips pursed and continued listening to his invectives.

"You weren't born to be a ninja, let alone a Hyūga. You'll never compare to Hanabi or anyone in our clan," he let it all sink in and continued. "You try to live up to what the Uzumaki boy is but you will never amount to anything. Give up."

Hinata lifted her head slowly and stared at her father. "No, Oto-san. I will never give up."

"People as weak and fragile as you don't belong in the shinobi world."

"I don't try to live up to Naruto-kun. He's inspired me to never give up," she let a small smile take over her face, "that's my nindo, my ninja way. I'm never giving up—"

"I was so alone, Hinata. I never had family or friends and everyone I knew hated me, shunned me for something I couldn't help. You knew. You knew and could have been there for me but you weren't." Hinata turned her head towards the dark corner where Naruto was slowly walking towards her, his face sullen.

Her stomach dropped from his words. "N-no, Naruto-kun, I—"

"You were content with watching me suffer from afar. You're a coward, Hinata. Nothing but a weak, spineless, coward," he spit the last word towards her like it was something foul in his mouth.

Hinata opened her mouth to protest but was cut off quickly by Hiashi, "you are weak daughter. Neji is better than you, your own sister is better than you… You cannot even defend the ones you love without becoming a burden. There is no place in this world for your kind."

"I wanted to die, Hinata. There were days where I didn't want to live anymore. You could have spared me the pain, smiled at me, showed me kindness, anything. But you didn't. You never cared, Hinata…"

"Naruto-kun, you know that's not true! I-I love you!" she tried to protest but the bitterness Naruto was throwing at her hurt nonetheless.

"If you really loved me you would have done something, Hinata. You're a liar. You're nothing but a liar and a weakling."

Her head was spinning more and more. As the world around her began to go dark, she heard a faint voice whisper in her ear. So faint that she barely realized it was there. ( watch?v=K3HIoLfC9go)

"_When I look at you, you just fill me with such- such admiration! I'm not saying you're perfect... I mean no one is. But when you do make a mistake you have the guts to pick yourself up and keep trying. I think that courage, to keep going no matter what, is what real strength is. I just think you're an incredibly strong person, Naruto-kun!"_

It was her own voice, her own timid voice. Those were her words to Naruto before the Chūnin exams.

_Naruto cracked a big smile. "Thanks, Hinata. I needed that. Even though I'm completely use to being the underdog I guess this time I was just really feeling the strain! I was really down which isn't like me at all but I feel a hundred percent better now!"_

_"I'm glad you do!"_

_"Alright, I'm off to the match thanks again!" __He started to walk away, leaving the girl behind, but something stopped him. He turned back to Hinata, a softer smile gracing his tan features._

"Hinata, _I- kinda... thought- you were... um... gloomytimidalwaysterrified and basically completely weird!" her head fell to the ground along with her feelings as he turned around again and began to walk away. "But you know what? I actually like... people like you!"_

_People like you._

_Like you._

_Like me._

Her head stopped spinning, the feeling in her stomach was disappearing. A surge of warmth radiated through her body, giving her the strength to stand tall and face both her father and Naruto. There was a determined look in her eyes now. A newfound hope.

"I was a coward and a weakling…" a warm smile danced on her pale face and then transformed into a big wide grin. "I make a promise, here and now! I will no longer run away, be a weakling like you say I am. I will protect the ones I love and be a stronger ninja than I am right now!"

Hiashi stared at his daughter for a while before his eyes softened and he stepped closer along with Naruto whose sullen look was replaced with one of bliss. They both placed a hand on either shoulder and said, "You're released."

Hinata awoke on the wooden floor of the prince's room. The floor was damp with sweat that covered her body. Her heart was racing and adrenaline was coursing through her veins. She sat up and looked around the room in search for her father and Naruto but they weren't around, she was alone. She stood and ran towards the door.

Surrounding and taking over the boat was thick white mist that made it hard to see. She squinted as she made her way around and tried calling out her teammate's names. No one answered back to her calls. Panicked, she began to run towards the servant's quarters to assure the prince's safety. Something made her trip and she stumbled down on to the ground. She rubbed her head before looking at what made her fall: Sakura was curled into a ball shaking violently. Sweat poured down her face and radiated from her body, covering her like a blanket. She looked through the mist and then back at Sakura, finally realizing what was going on. Seeing her father, the stark remarks he was making, the thick mist, why no one was answering, Sakura shaking so violently, it was a genjutsu. And a very powerful one.

Hinata did a hand sign and focused all of her chakra into Sakura's body, "Release!" She waited a little longer but the girl didn't wake up. Carefully, she lifted the girl and tried to get her through the servant's room. She laid Sakura down gently on the ground and looked around, only to realize that she had four pairs of eyes staring at her confused.

"Is something wrong?" Daisuke asked.

She stared back confused, had they gotten out of the genjutsu as well? Prince Kazuhiko stared at the confused girl before realization finally dawned on him. He jumped up out of the bed only to have his legs give out under him.

"Prince Kazuhiko! You mustn't exert yourself like this. You are still very weak," Daisuke scolded as he ran towards the prince to help him sit back on the bed.

"Damn it," he said. "I completely forgot!" he pounded on the bed in frustration.

Hinata stared bewildered, "Prince Kazuhiko, what's wrong?"

"I don't have time to explain. Quickly, are you good with chakra control?"

Hinata considered and then nodded.

"Great. Come with me. Daisuke, get the scroll of releasing, it's in the dresser."

"Yes my prince."

Kazuhiko took Hinata by the hand and led her to the center of the ship. Daisuke scurried towards them with another servant helping him carry the large scroll. The prince took it from them and rolled it out on the wooden floor. On it were alien symbols and writings. Hinata stared at the scroll trying to decipher what could be written on it.

"These are ancient writings, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know what they meant," the prince said as he began to loosen the rope around his kimono. He reached inside it and pulled out a golden blade quickly and cut the inside of his hand, letting the blood drip over the scroll.

As the blood slithered down, the scroll began to light up. A purple light escaped through the letters. The prince kneeled down and clapped his hands together, the same purple energy emitting out of his hands. He placed them down on the scroll and closed his eyes.

"Quickly, I need you to place your hands on mine and focus all of your chakra in your hands and pass it through me."

"Right!"

She did as she was told. She was more than grateful right then for all those years her father and Neji tried to teach her proper chakra control. Not only was it proper as a shinobi to have it but she was about to save her friends. Chakra slowly drained out of her but she maintained a stable balance. Her eyes were closed but the purple energy growing could still be seen through closed eyelids.

Kazuhiko began to chant something, a language she never heard before. It started out like mere mumbles and then slowly began to grow into loud chants.

"I need more chakra, Hinata!"

She focused more into the balls of her hands. Letting it all seep through her skin cells and pass on to the prince. His shouts were growing louder.

"In the count of three I want you to pull away quickly! It has to be exact!" He commanded, she nodded and waited.

"1…

2…

3!"

Hinata pulled away quickly, falling back on her elbows. She stared at the prince and his next steps. His hands were clapped together again, this time there was a purple silhouette around his body growing darker and darker. He was screaming the words now.

Wind was pushing his hair back and his kimono was flaring all around him. He slammed his hands on to the scroll with one last shout, "Release!"

Hinata stared as the scroll began to suck in the mist, taking it all in until every last inch of it was gone and seeped inside the scroll. He rolled it up when it was all over and handed the heavy thing back to Daisuke. He looked back at Hinata and smiled. "Thank you for your help, Hinata-san."

It was finally over.

Her eyes continued to look around her as the mist that remained vanished slowly, leaving the naked sun to make her squint her lavender eyes. She stood up quickly and helped Daisuke roll up the scroll and carry it back into the servant's room. Inside, Sakura was standing and just about to leave the room as they entered. She looked flustered and lost.

Hinata could tell she probably had it worst in the genjutsu. "Sakura-san, you're awake."

Sakura stared at Hinata for a long while before answering, "What's going on, I don't rem—"

"I think it's best if you follow me, the rest of your comrades have awoken. I will explain it all then," the prince said as he walked into the room. Both girls nodded and followed after him.

Outside, Naruto, Kiba, and Kakashi were all gathered around where they were before. They were drenched in sweat and all seemed shaken up. Even the strong silver haired Jōnin seemed out of it. Hinata sat on a nearby crate and looked at her comrades. She felt and looked fine compared to them all. Had she not gotten the worst of it? Guilt began to swirl inside her stomach.

"So what the hell is going on?" Naruto asked.

Kazuhiko fixed the sash on his robe and began to speak, "These rocks are a barrier that protect the land and the people of this place. Long ago the Island of Camellias made a treaty with the people of this small port, if the Island of Camellias was allowed to put up a barrier to protect the prince, then we would ensure that no one would invade this port."

"Why couldn't you just make it closer to the island? That makes more sense."

"The Island of Camellias has no natural barriers and making a barrier wouldn't provide the same protection we were looking for. You see, someone in my kingdom had the ability to do a very powerful genjutsu. He had the ability to put a genjutsu on items or things. We used his ability to put it on the rocks. If a boat got too close to the port it would set off the genjutsu. Inevitably, you can't get out of this genjutsu so it would ensure death of starvation since you would be in it indefinitely." He shifted his eyes to Hinata, "which sparks up the question, how did you get out of it?"

Hinata blushed at the sudden attention she was getting from everyone. "This genjutsu is almost impossible to escape. The only way to be released is if someone from the Island of Camellias releases it with the scroll, even then you need massive amounts of chakra to rid of it and only someone of the royal blood line can do the releasing."

"I-I don't know."

Naruto, whose mind was drifting slowly from the conversation was brought back abruptly. He jumped up and pointed at the prince accusingly, "why the hell didn't you warn us before about this then!?"

The prince laughed and rubbed the back of his head innocently, "I—uh—forgot."

"You forgot!? And how come you and your servants weren't in the genjutsu?!"

"Calm down will you? There's no need to be shouting, I'm right next to you."

Naruto mumbled something uncouth under his breath. The prince continued, "My people aren't affected by genjutsu."

"Not effected by genjutsu? Is that even possible?" Sakura asked.

"Sorry, I meant not this particular one."

"You said Hinata was the only one who broke out of the genjutsu by herself," Kakashi turned towards Hinata. "Do you know how you got out of it?"

"I-I don't remember it clearly. I remember my father was in the room with me. He began to say things that I never heard him say to me. He seemed angry and disappointed but I told him that I would never give up until I was a great ninja." She decided to keep the part about Naruto out of it fearing that she would faint from the stares she would get.

They stared at her for a long moment and then she remembered something, "and then he said 'you're released'. I didn't know what he meant at the time but now I think he was releasing me of the genjutsu."

"Is that possible?"

The prince thought about it long and hard, "I don't know. I've never heard of anyone breaking out of this genjutsu."

Naruto turned to look at Hinata and smiled at her, "I guess that makes Hinata the first!"

The blue haired Hyūga blushed at his direct comment to her and she looked down. Sakura looked down at her hands, remembering the genjutsu vividly. It had felt so real to her. If it had been real she would be gone. Dead. Was she still weak?

And Naruto, all those things he was saying. How she had hurt him, had lied to him. They were all true. What could she possibly do to repay for all the damage she had done to him? She felt like she couldn't do anything. She looked up and caught Hinata still blushing, or maybe there was something she could do. She tried to hide the smirk that was trying to grow on her face, it was time to place step one to her plan into action.

* * *

Finally, as midafternoon rolled in, five figures appeared in the distance of the ocean. They stretched their tired limbs as they reached the dock. The calm waves that were out made it that much simpler for the ship to sail into port gently. Naruto and his shadow clones lowered the anchor almost too eagerly. After the long days at sea, the team had finally reached their last and final stop before reaching the Island of Camellias. The sun was out, not a cloud in sight. The ocean was calm and the village was swarming with people who smiled and waved as the boat harbored.

Naruto dispersed his clones and stretched his muscles, letting a loud and obnoxious yawn escape his mouth. The prince came out of his room, servants at bay, and while passing Naruto said, "I don't see what you could possibly be exhausted about, you did nothing."

Naruto jumped out of his yawning and began to wave his fist at the prince's back as he walked away, "I was protecting your ass the whole time, ya know!"

Kazuhiko stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly towards the ninja, a grin on his face. "Really? It seems like I was doing the saving." He continued to walk.

Naruto stared after him until he could smell the scent of Kiba and Akamaru; he turned to look at them. "Man, that guy is so full of himself."

Kiba laughed, "Yeah but he did save our neck. Come on, we have to go into the village to restock everything."

"Kiba! Naruto! Wait up!" Sakura shouted as she ran up to the group, Hinata tailing behind her.

Naruto smiled and waved, "Hi, Sakura-chan!"

Kiba shook his head at the boy's sudden change of attitude. _Typical of Naruto, _he thought. He leaned sideways to get a better look at Hinata and laughed, she was flushing scarlet. "Hinata, are you coming with us?"

"Y-yes, Kiba-kun."

"Just make sure you don't pass out because Naruto is breathing the same air as you, okay?"

She jumped up and hid behind Sakura who just smiled and shot Kiba a nasty glare.

He lifted his hands up in defense, "I'm just speaking the truth."

"Alright, let's go into the village and restock our supplies!" Naruto shouted turning around to lead the way. Kiba slapped Akamaru in the rear causing the dog to run in front of Naruto as he put his foot down and making him trip face first.

Everyone burst out into laughs, even Hinata, who was trying hard not to laugh at the boy, couldn't help herself anymore and joined the rest. The blonde headed ninja jumped up and gave Kiba a threatening look, "Watch it dog-boy! You're next!"

Kiba patted his back as he walked past, Akamaru at his heels, "alright, Uzumaki."

After a short walk, they arrived to a small herb shop. The variety of plants in different sized wooden trays danced around the four young shinobi as they looked around for what they needed. Since Sakura was the only one who really knew about herbs, they would huddle around the pink haired girl asking her the same question over and over again.

"Are these it, Sakura-san?" Hinata called picking up three herbs out of a wooden box. Sakura ran towards her, list in hand, and scrutinized the herbs Hinata was holding. She nodded and took the plants from her hand with a smile and put it in a basket.

Naruto picked up a plant that was about half his height and thick with three giant purple leaves protruding out of its sides, "Sakura-chan!" he shouted across the shop with a loopy grin on his face, "how about this?"

Sakura turned, her face neutral, before it turned into annoyance and she calmly made her way towards the whiskered faced ninja. "Naruto, does that look like any of the herbs we have on the list?" she lifted it up so he could see.

He pouted as he looked at the list and then gave her a nervous smile, "no, but I thought it'd be cool to have it around, ya know? We could use it as a weapon, it's pretty tough or—" the heavy plant was taken out of his hand and then slammed into his skull. He fell on the ground seeing stars, loopy smile still at bay.

"Stop messing around and get serious you idiot!" Sakura shouted into his ear. She turned, composure back in place, and said warmly to the others, "alright, those were the last herbs we needed from here. I guess we're done. We should head back," she said as she walked to the clerk. They paid for their necessities and walked out of the herb shop.

"Kakashi said that after this we could get a little break and walk around the village. I want to see what type of girls they have in this place," Kiba said as he carried a big basket of food.

Sakura placed her basket of herbs on the ground nonchalantly, walked over next to Kiba, and slammed her fist down on his head. "Idiot!"

Naruto let out a sigh of relief as it wasn't him this time that was getting pounded. They continued to walk. Other than it being small and the smell of sea surrounded them, it did seem a lot like Konoha. In the sense that the people were all friendly and seemed pretty close. Naruto's nose sniffed upwards, he smelled noodles. And not just any noodles, ramen noodles. His mouth watered and his stomach growled, how he craved it in his stomach.

"Hey, Sakura, how about we finally go on that date?"

Sakura laughed, "I think I'm just going to call it night when we get back, I'm exhausted. Why don't you ask Hinata?"

The girl next to her perked up. Naruto's hopes went down. "Hinata's not the type for ramen."

Hinata's hopes went down as well. Sakura sighed. "Here, Hinata, you hold the money. I'm already full with the basket of herbs," Sakura said as she handed the girl the bag. She reached out for it before it was quickly snatched out of the air. The thief pushed the Hyūga on to the ground. "Kiba, go after him! Naruto, you stay here with Hinata!"

Naruto who already had his hand sign ready for shadow clones let out the air that was filled in his mouth and looked at Sakura like she was crazy, "why can't I go after him!?"

"Because Kiba's faster! I'm going after him too. You stay here and pick everything up."

Naruto sighed and watched after as she ran away from them, Kiba long gone with Akamaru. He reached out his hand to help Hinata up who was blushing feverishly. "Are you okay, Hinata?" She looked up into Naruto's blue eyes that were digging into her own. His hand was warm in hers, strong. She felt the world spinning around her and then she was gone.

Naruto caught her quickly and laid her on the ground gently. He sighed in annoyance, "of all the times…" he muttered under his breath. He summoned three shadow clones and picked up all the things that had fallen and placed them inside there designated basket and then he lifted the blue haired Hyūga into his arm and began to carry her back to the ship.

* * *

Sakura and Kiba continued to run after the thief until they were in the outskirts of the village. Sakura stopped and tried to catch her breath, Kiba stopped next to her, Akamaru coming to a halt. They looked at each other when they're breath was finally back in their chests and then they began to laugh. They held their sides as their laughs filled the air around them.

The thief stopped ahead of them and began to walk back. He stuck his hand out and handed the bag of money back to Sakura. She stopped laughing, took the bag and opened it to get some money out and gave it to the man, "thank you again."

The man still seemed confused but he nodded and left. Kiba wiped a tear from his eye and walked over to Sakura, "man that was great. Where'd you get such a good idea?"

Sakura shrugged, "it kind of just came to me. Do you think it worked?"

Kiba rubbed Akamaru's head and walked beside Sakura as they headed back to the ship, "Hinata probably fainted or Naruto probably helped her up and then tried to follow us."

Sakura thought about it for a second, could Naruto have followed them? Hinata fainting was more likely true but would Naruto not listen to her and just leave Hinata there by herself? She didn't find it likely, it wasn't Naruto to just leave his friend dropped like that.

"I think Hinata passing out is more possible. Either way we got them alone so it was still a semi-success. And this was just step one."

He shook his head, "you girls freak me out. What about the prince? He seems pretty attached to Hinata."

"Yeah, I know. He's a little problem but he'll get over her."

"Do you really think so?"

_No, _she said to herself. "Yeah," she said out loud.

"When you came up to me earlier to ask for help, I was kind of surprised you would want to do something like this for Naruto."

"It's not only for Naruto, it's for Hinata too. They deserve each other. Isn't that why you agreed to help?"

Kiba yawned, "I guess. In all honesty I can careless about all this lovey-dovey crap you're trying to pull off. But Hinata is like a sister and I wouldn't mind seeing her happy, even if it's with someone as dense as Naruto." He sighed, "He better not hurt her though or I'll kick his ass."

Sakura smiled, "glad to have you as my partner in crime then."

"But why are you so serious to get Hinata with Naruto if he has feelings for you?"

Sakura slowed down, "I already said it before, they deserve each other."

Kiba walked in front of her and looked her in the eyes, "I know that's not the only reason. You can be kind but you wouldn't go through all of this planning just to hook up two people."

She stopped in front of him and stared at Kiba and then down at her own hands, "Naruto's been through so much in his life. He grew up alone without anyone, no friends and no family. We use to laugh at him and bully him every day for being different," her stomach turned from the guiltiness, Kiba looked away in shame.

"He's never really had anyone and has never felt love. He has us now. I can't give him what Hinata can give him. She's always loved him, the way she looks at him, and the way she gets nervous around him. She really loves him… And she would never hurt him… or lie to him."

"I think Hinata proved she really did love Naruto when she risked her life for him when fighting Pain," Kiba said in a low voice.

Sakura looked up, "I've hurt Naruto so many times. The least I can do right now is to make him happy with someone who truly loves him."

Kiba nodded and put both of his hands on her shoulders, "you're a good person, Sakura." He dropped his hands, turned around and began to walk, "come on, let's go see how your plan worked out."

She stared at him before smiling and running up to him to catch up, "yeah, let's go."

* * *

"We're not even going the right way!"

"I'm pretty sure we were supposed to make a right over there."

"My hands are getting blisters from this basket!"

"Will you all shut up and let me think!" Naruto shouted at his clones. They had been walking around in circles for a while. Naruto hadn't noticed the path they took to get into the market and now he didn't know how to get back to the village let alone the ship. He was literally in the middle of nowhere.

Trees surrounded him. The darkness was creeping in and was battling with the sun, leaving its bloody streaks of war on the sky. The clones silenced on the command but muttered things under their breaths. With the quiet that was now provided, Naruto could hear a stream. He shifted Hinata a bit in his arms and followed his ears.

He stared down at the Hyūga as his ears guided his feet. He never noticed it before, but the way the sunset's light outlined Hinata's face made her look even more beautiful than she already was. It made him want to smile in giddy.

He slowed down his tracks, _did I really just think that… again? _He pushed the thoughts he was having away and instead focused on the sound of the water.

Hinata was having a lovely dream. She dreamt that she and Naruto were having a picnic and that he had prepared cinnamon rolls for her. They snuggled up close to each other, Naruto wrapping his arms around her, enjoying the weather and each other's company. She could have been asleep for years if this was what she would be trapped in. She wouldn't mind it at all. But something was slowly pulling her out of her consciousness.

She could hear water, a rapid splashing of it. Ever since she began training out in the water fall back home she was getting better training her ears to hear water for when they were out on missions and she still wanted to train.

The first thing she noticed was that, by the way her weight was distributed, that she was off the ground. The second thing she noticed was that whatever was holding her up was warm. Out of habit she snuggled closer to whatever was so warm and tried to get her mind wrapped around that dream she just awoke from.

She took in a deep breath and then froze up suddenly. She smelt something.

Ramen.

Hesitantly she opened her eyes and lifted her eyes to the source of the scent and was very surprised to find herself in the arms of Naruto Uzumaki. He was peering down at her, a loopy grin planted on his face.

"Well well well, look who decided to wake up finally! You alright, sleepyhead?"

Hinata couldn't help herself, she had just woken up in the arms of her long term crush. She did the first thing that came to mind.

Scream.

This in turn spooked Naruto and made him accidentally drop Hinata on to the ground, the air knocking out of her.

"Hinata! I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to, damn it. You screamed and I wasn't expecting that," he said as he bent down to help her up. "I'm so sorry."

"I-t's okay, N-Naruto-kun. I-I didn't mean to scream, I was just s-surprised." She took his hand and blushed at the warmth it radiated. She tried her hardest to hide her disappointment when he pulled his hand away from hers. She looked down to hide her flushed cheeks just to let out an 'eep' as Naruto began to dust her body off.

He stepped back and rubbed his head, "So… We're lost."

"Yeah because boss doesn't know where he's going half the time!" one of the clones said, she turned her head to look at him. Her heart was racing, seeing all these Narutos around her was overwhelming.

"You don't happen to remember where the ship was, Hinata?"

She nodded, "I-I do remember, but I don't know where we a-are right now."

Naruto jumped up in excitement, "thank goodness! I thought we were lost for sure," he took her hand and began to run towards where they had come from, his clones right on his heels. Hinata tried to not trip over her own feet. Her cheeks were like tomatoes now.

When they were finally out of the forest they stopped to let Hinata catch her breath. "Alright, you lead from here, Hinata!"

She nodded and looked around and then continued to walk straight. They walked in silence for a while. The moon was finally out, the sun long gone. The war was over, the moon coming out the winner. The stars shined down on them in victory and lit the path before them. She took in a deep breath.

"N-Naruto-kun, may I-I ask why you were carrying me?"

"You passed out after I tried helping you up after that thief pushed you down… now that I think about it, Sakura and Kiba never came back to look for us!"

She lowered her head. "I'm sorry if I caused any trouble."

Naruto looked over at her, "Not at all, Hinata. You're not heavy at all! Really, I could have used carrying you around like training."

Hinata smiled at his efforts to make her feel better. Although she was nervous, she did feel comfortable around him. She never had the chance to be alone with him and speak with him like this. She tried to uncover more confidence in her body and continued the conversation. She decided to ask something simple, "h-how was your training at Mount Myōboku?"

Naruto scrunched his face remembering all the bugs he had to eat and shivered, "the training was intense… I could do without the food I had to eat though."

"Y-you grow stronger every day, N-Naruto-kun. I wish I was as strong as you."

"But you are strong, Hinata!"

Hinata's heart ran faster. Did he remember when she jumped between the fight with Pain? Did he remember her efforts? Her head was getting light headed again but she fought the urge of passing out and tried to stay awake. "Not like you, N-Naruto-kun. You play such an important role to the village now. You're our hero. I just wish to do as much to our village as you did."

Naruto stopped in his tracks, "No, Hinata, I won't listen to you downgrade yourself! You're as awesome as any other ninja in Konoha!"

Hinata blushed at the compliment. "Now say it, say you're just as awesome and strong as any other ninja in Konoha!"

She muttered his words in embarrassment. "Sorry, what did you say? I couldn't hear you."

She tried it a little louder, "you're going to have to speak a little louder, Hinata, because I can't hear a word you're saying!"

"I, Hinata Hyūga, am just as an awesome and strong ninja and any other ninja in Konoha!" She shouted and then clasped her hands over her mouth from the loud tone that escaped her petite body. Naruto tried to hold in his laughter but couldn't any longer. He busted out in laughter, holding his sides tightly while wiping tears out of his eyes.

"You should see the look on your face, Hinata! Aw, it's so cute!" Naruto stopped his teasing realizing the words that had just come out of his mouth.

_What was that? Maybe Hinata didn't hear me, _he thought as he looked at the Hyūga that was beet red. Thoroughly embarrassed he tried to change the subject.

"S-so what's it been like since I've been gone?" Hinata quickly took this opportunity to shift the mood and began to inform him about all that had happened while in his absence. Soon enough they were chatting happily once again. But something was nagging at the back of her mind. A question that she had been dying to ask but couldn't find the courage to ask. It had been bothering her for some time and her curiosity was taking her over. She could start smelling the sea and could see the outline of the ship growing closer. It was now or never.

"N-Naruto-kun, can I ask you something?"

Naruto's stomach turned a bit from the sudden shift in her voice, "yeah, sure. What is it?"

"It's o-okay if you don't feel comfortable t-to answer this," she said timidly. The blonde boy gave her a suspicious look.

"Are you… are you afraid of the war?"

The question caught him off guard. He never expected anyone to approach him so directly with the question. He had shown such a fearless attitude towards it. He himself was sure that he wasn't afraid at all and was ready for anything Madara wanted to throw at him.

But now that he thought about it, he was scared. Not for himself, but for his friends. For everyone in his village, whether he was close with them or not. He didn't want to lose anyone in this war and he knew that he would. That's what happened in war: death. And he was scared of it. He was terrified of death but the death of his comrades that were going to be on the battlefield with him.

Then he remembered the Chūnin Exams.

Before his fight with Neji, he had been terrified. Despite his promise to defeat the Hyūga, he himself wasn't so sure about it. He doubted himself just as much as everyone else was. How could a second-rate loser beat someone everyone considered a genius?

That's when he ran into Hinata.

For the first time in his life, he dropped the tough guy act. Something about the shy girl made him want to pour his heart out and just let it all out, so he did. He told her it all. How he thought he really didn't know if he could win and that he was actually scared, _really _scared. As the words came out, he felt ashamed. It made him feel so… weak.

But she didn't ridicule him or wasn't even deterred by this random lack of confidence. She held her ground and firmly proclaimed her faith in him. She reminded him that he never gave up and that was something she so greatly admired. He felt so much better hearing those words. No matter how low he would or how much he would fail, he felt there would always be someone there to catch him and help him get back on his feet.

"_I've been watching you… I've been watching you closely for many years now. I wonder why I don't know why but… When I watch you, Naruto, I feel full of courage… I feel like I can keep going… that I can succeed. That even I am worth something."_

Those words had remained with Naruto throughout his life. They reminded him that being strong doesn't mean being tough. That it was okay to have fear and doubts when you have someone, have friends you can share them with.

Now he stared at Hinata the same way he had those few years ago, and he surprised himself with the words that came out of him again, "actually, I am scared."

Hinata looked up at him surprised. She knew everyone had fears but she never looked at Naruto as the one to have any. "I'm scared… I'm scared of death."

"Of death?"

"I don't want to lose anyone in this war… I know there's going to be a lot of casualties and a lot of people are going to get hurt… but I don't want to lose any more people. I can't tell myself it'll all be okay because I know it won't but I can't imagine losing Sakura… or Kakashi sensei… I can't imagine losing… losing…" his voice began to trail off.

Unknown to Hinata, Naruto's mind was gone. His thoughts had drifted away and was elsewhere. All of the wind inside of him was kicked out from the impact of the memories that were flooding back.

_~ Flashback ~_

_Naruto's limbs were pierced with Pain's rods. His body was being taken over by Pain's chakra, he couldn't move on his own. All he could do was stare at the man before him that was about to win. He gave him his best glare._

_Pain lifted his hand towards him, "It's time we were on our way."_

_Naruto's glare was wiped away and fear quickly came in, was it his turn to be taken like the rest of the Jinchuuriki had?_

_From the corner of his eye he saw a figure running towards them and then leaping into the air to attack Pain from a surprise angle. Pain wasn't fooled of course._

_The second her fist slammed the ground, Pain had already jumped and was across from them._

_It was Hinata._

"_I won't let you hurt Naruto anymore!"_

"_Reinforcements?"_

_Naruto's body was filling up with anger. Why was she here? She was going to get hurt!_

"_Why did you come out here?! Just run! You can't win!"_

"_No."_

_He looked up at the blue haired girl who seemed determined to stay. "I'm just being selfish now."_

"_What's that mean? Hinata, don't put yourself in danger like this, just go!"_

"_I'm here because I want to be. This time I'm going to save you, Naruto—"_

_~ End of flashback ~_

Naruto grabbed at his head and moaned in pain.

"Naruto-kun! Are you alright!?" Hinata stepped forward and then quickly stepped back not sure whether she should help or not.

_What was that? It was all hazy and fuzzy. I know Hinata jumped in to save me… but there's more… I know there's more. Augh, why can't I remember!_

He rubbed his head and then looked at Hinata, her features laced with worry, and all his frustration and fear about war melted away. _I have a feeling I'll remember the rest soon enough. _He smiled as wide as he could.

_Hinata was willing to give her life for me… to protect me._

"You know what, Hinata? I don't think I'm scared anymore."

Hinata was slightly stunned by the change of attitude, "why? What has changed?"

Without warning he moved towards her.

"Because…" he put both hands on her shoulder before engulfing her into a warm embrace, "as long as I have people like you… I'm not afraid at all.

Hinata didn't flinch from his touch. She didn't feel like she was going to fall to her feet either. To be honest, it might have been because the whole thing was a surprise to her but nonetheless she didn't waver. Instead, she gingerly wrapped her arms around the boy, and hugged him back.

Though it only lasted a few seconds that she could have counted off on her slim white fingers, to her it was enough for a life time. It felt so right being in his arms, the smell of ramen inhabiting her nose, the smell of him. She wished they could have stayed like that forever.

"Sorry about that!" he chuckled looking a bit embarrassed. "Guess I got a little carried away…"

Hinata gave him a soft smile, "it's okay, Naruto-kun. I didn't mind."

They both blushed softly and continued to walk again. But now there was something bothering Naruto. There was something about Hinata in general that he felt he could just say anything to. Something he didn't really feel with his other friends. He decided to keep it going.

"Hinata… can I tell you something?"

She looked towards him and nodded. He sighed before he could continue, "I had a dream before… I guess I might have lost control with the nine tails and I— I killed you and Kiba, and Kakashi and—" now that he said it out loud, he felt guilty. Guilty for what he didn't know but the feeling was there. He couldn't control his dreams but he couldn't help but feel that way. Hinata must have sensed his uneasiness and decided to pick up.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun. You don't have to feel bad."

Naruto looked towards her and the girl only gave him a warm smile, "you don't think I'll ever… you know, get like that? It happened before and I hurt Sakura and I don't think I'll ever really forgive myself for it."

Hinata mulled her words over. "I don't think you will. You're very strong and know how to protect the ones you love."

Naruto stared at the ship that was just a couple of minutes away and sighed, "ya know, I'm kinda glad I got stuck with you, Hinata. You're not as weird as you seem to be."

When Naruto and Hinata returned to the ship everyone was gathered around and Kakashi was trying to calm down Daisuke who was running back and forth. The ship radiated a bad feeling, Hinata's smile was quickly washed away.

"What's going on?"

Sakura looked up, "you guys finally made it!"

"What the hell took so long?" Kiba asked.

Naruto looked from Sakura to Kiba and then Kakashi walked up to them. "The prince doesn't happen to be with you, right?"

Naruto shook his head slowly.

Daisuke ran up to Hinata, "Prince Kazuhiko ran off, you must find him, please!"


	6. Chapter 6: The Tale of Megumi

**Author's Note: **So the chapter has been posted early. I do have to clear some things up: later in the story there will be a song, the music with this song is provided, I suggest you wait ten seconds before singing the song in whatever beat you choose. Or just do what you want. If you have watched the Hoshigakure Arc then read it in the beat of Natsuhiboshi, Sumaru's lullaby. It is a bit long but this is the beginning of where the action is starting to be picked up. Remember if you see ( ) put it into Google and listen to the music as you read!

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Tale of Megumi**

Hinata ran towards the forest, Byakugan activated she jumped from tree to tree in search for the prince. She focused on her 360 vision and looked for anything that seemed out of place. She didn't know why but she got a pretty good feeling that the prince would be around here.

She didn't know for what reason he would run away. Knowing how essential he was to the resurrection of this evil demon, why would he put himself in such danger? Practically screaming, 'hey, come and kidnap me!' She didn't get it all.

By the sound of water rushing she could tell that she was growing closer to the waterfall where Naruto had dropped her after she had screamed from the shock of being carried by her one and only crush. She slowed down and jumped to the ground. She stood there for a moment and took in all of her surroundings.

Her ears perked up at the sound of a low voice. Someone was singing. It was soothing and made the hairs at the back of her neck stand. She let herself be guided by the sound of the voice and then found herself standing behind a tree near the small waterfall.

The prince had his feet in the water and was laying back. His eyes were focused on the stars but not quite. She peered her head just a little to get a better look at him. The soothing voice that was singing was coming from him. She opened up her ears more to hear the words that were escaping his lips. ( /SRYoR7IvJLQ)

"Fukurokuju, why are you so sad?

It's because the love of my life will pass tonight. Her skin will whiten and my tears will shed. How do I live with such a fate?

Fukurokuju, what do you mean?

This book has reminded me of a night, I loved and lost. Her death was so sudden and now she is gone afar. She can't be found even though I've tried. The darkness has taken over my light. The tears will fall on this book of mine."

Hinata let herself be taken by the notes. She couldn't quite understand the song; all she knew was who Fukurokuju was. He was one of the Seven Lucky Gods and was the god of wisdom and longevity. He carried around a book that was tied to his staff that was said to have the lifespan of every person on Earth.

Her eyes widened a bit, even the life of his loved one. _What a sad song… yet such a beautiful one too, _she thought. She was so wrapped in her thoughts trying to think of why the prince could be singing such a random and beautifully bitter song, she hadn't noticed that he wasn't in her view anymore.

She panicked then. She was supposed to bring him back to the ship, those were her orders. She found him and now he was gone once again. She bent down a bit to get momentum to jump back up on the trees to start her search once again.

"Hinata-san?"

She let out a small 'eep' and jumped back. She hadn't noticed that he was behind her. Why hadn't she noticed he was behind her? She trained for these things and she hadn't even noticed the shift.

"Were you looking for me?"

Hinata let her heart slow from the freight and nodded her head yes. The prince arched an eyebrow and then walked back to where he was before and lay back down, continuing his song as if nothing happened.

She stared for a moment before walking to where he lay and standing next to him, "w-why do you sing such a sad song?"

The prince didn't avert his eyes from the starry sky above him as he spoke. "It's very significant to me."

Hinata kneeled down and then sat beside where he lay. "Ho—"

"In the Land of Gems not only did I do the majority of my training there, but I also grew to learn what actual love was…" His voice drifted and when he began to speak again, it was filled with poorly hidden sadness. "I grew to love someone who wasn't me."

_~ Flashback ~_

_( /c7e0L8ixysk) _

_The sun was perched high in the sky. A small black bird flew across the horizon, its wings outstretched and its beak high in proudness. It landed on a cherry blossom that stood in the garden of the palace. The bird shook its wings and made herself comfortable on the tree._

_A girl, with cream skin and long black hair that fell past her waist, was in the garden picking out the weeds from the rainbow of flowers that were nestled together. As she picked away she hummed and hummed so loudly and beautifully that it drew the attention of a nearby prince. _

_He had been reciting the chant for his ritual and the humming was breaking his concentration. Whoever it was was going to have to stop. The nerve to hum such a loud tune while he was training. All the servants knew to stay away from him as he trained. He needed all of his attention and focus in order to go through with the practice._

"_Hey! Don't you know not to be out here during my training—" he stopped in midsentence as he got a better look at who was committing the crime. _

_Kazuhiko's blood rushed to his cheeks quickly and he tried to drift his eyes away from the girl who was now standing and staring at him in fear. He knew he had to say something but couldn't find a voice in him to actually produce words, let alone string them into a coherent sentence._

_Unconsciously, he stepped forward and the bird that was perched in the tree flew over to where he was and began to attack him, causing him to trip. The girl watched from where she was as the prince angrily swatted at the bird._

"_Get away will you!" he cried as the bird flew around his fallen body. It laughed at his struggle._

_To his surprise, the laughing had stopped just as soon as it had started. The bird wasn't flying around him anymore and instead there was a hand outstretched to him. He looked to where the arm ended and found a smiling face looking down at him. He took it and was back on his feet._

"_I'm sorry, Kotori doesn't grow too kind to strangers," her voice sent shivers down his spine._

_He tried to hide his blush by looking down. He felt so stupid. He was a prince! Why should he be averting his eyes? She should be the one looking down. "I-it's fine. I—was training and heard you humming and—"_

"_Oh! Was I bothering your training? Daisuke told me not to be out in the garden while you were out but I didn't like seeing the garden like it was now. Oh, I'm so sorry, Kazuhiko-sama." She bowed her head and begged for his forgiveness._

_He blushed even deeper in embarrassment. Normally he would have accepted the sign of respect he was getting. But right now, as the girl begged for his forgiveness, all he could do was blush. He smiled and tried to brush it off, "It's fine, really." The girl lifted her head to look at him, eyes like a sea of black. "I should get back to training…" he said as he began to back away. He turned and began to make his way back before turning around again, "what's your name?"_

"_Megumi."_

_The prince smiled and turned around to go back. 'Megumi,' he thought as he smiled._

_That night he sat out on his balcony and watched the stars. His mind flying around this girl he had just met. The stars were out in the sky like little candles and the moon served as the eternal flame that lit them. He looked down at the garden, for some reason he hoped he would see this girl once more._

_Her song had stuck with him. He began to hum it himself as he stared down at the garden. His eyes were beginning to drift away to sleep before they jumped right back up when Kotori landed on his lap. He let out a loud scream and jumped back. Hands out to strike like an amateur. _

"_What do you want now, bird?"_

_Kotori tilted her head in mock and stretched out her wings. The prince got a strange feeling that the bird was trying to tell him something._

"_Are you trying to speak to me?"_

_The bird jumped off the balcony and began to fly around. The prince watched confused._

"_Do you want me to follow?"_

_The bird continued to go in circles and then began to fly away towards the garden._

_Kazuhiko was still confused but figured that maybe the bird did want him to follow her. He quickly threw on his shoes and ran down the stairs of the palace and out the doors. Quietly and quickly like a fox. He didn't want Daisuke hearing him leave again, he'll think he was trying to escape once again. _

_He ran out to the garden to where the bird was still flying over in circles. He looked up and then the bird continued to fly straight forward. Kazuhiko followed him, trying to keep up with the pace the bird had._

_He ran past tree after tree. Turning left and then turning right. The moon seemed to follow after Kotori just as eagerly as the prince was doing. His feet were growing tired and he was slowly growing more and more out of breath. Right when he was starting to think that he wouldn't be able to continue, the bird flew to the ground and stood before a big bush wall. _

_The prince stopped as well and stared at the big vegetation in front of him. He touched it and then looked down at the bird. "You drew me all the way here to see a big bush wall?"_

_The bird ignored his comment and flew into a small hole that was inserted into the wall. Kazuhiko stared and began to grow frustrated. How could he have been so stupid to follow a bird? And for what reason did he follow this bird in the first place? _

_He looked around and tried to see if he could find a way to get in as well. All around him were trees, trees everywhere. Trees to his left, trees to his right. Trees so big they served as a roof. He leaned against one of the trees that was near the wall and sat down to get his breath back._

"_Well, good job, Kazuhiko. You managed to get lost in a forest because of a bird." _

_He closed his eyes and then opened it again, something was poking at his back. He stood up to look what it was: Kotori. She was standing inside a big hole in the trunk of the tree. Big enough for the prince to crawl into. Kotori flapped her wings and then disappeared into the darkness of the trunk. The prince bent down and then crawled into the trunk. Inside was a giant path that was set for him to crawl._

_It was dark but he could feel his way past everything. He crawled through the darkness of this tree. How this path was created was beyond him. But he continued to follow. The dirt was cool and dug into his fingernails. Up ahead there was a light that was growing steadily and he began to pick us his pace._

_He came out into a closed meadow. A small river that ended at the foot of the bush wall. There were flowers of different colors and shapes around it. The roof of trees was gone and the only thing that was above them was the giant moon and its stars to illuminate the beauty of nature's creations._

_He stood up and dusted himself off as he stared in awe at his surroundings. He had never seen anything so beautiful in his life before. He would have never imagined this to be behind that giant bush wall. He would have never imagined that dark path he crawled to lead to something so vibrant like this._

_And then he heard it._

_The same tune he had heard earlier that day but this time with words attached to it. ( /SRYoR7IvJLQ) _

"_Fukurokuju, why are you so sad? _

_It's because the love of my life will pass tonight. Her skin will whiten and my tears will shed. How do I live with such a fate?_

_Fukurokuju, what do you mean?_

_This book has cursed me with this night, I loved and lost. Her death was so sudden and now she's gone. She can't be found though I've tried. The darkness has taken over my light. The tears will fall on this book of mine."_

_He turned to look towards the very back of the meadow. In a pool of white lilies lay Megumi. Her eyes closed, tears falling down her cheeks, as she sang the last words of the song. She hummed the final notes of the song. The wind came on cue and carried the notes on its shoulders._

_Kazuhiko walked slowly closer to her and tried not to alarm her as he sat down in the sea of white. She didn't notice because instead she lay there, eyes squeezed shut, trying to stifle the tears that were falling down from her cheeks and on to the ground beneath her. _

_The prince didn't know whether to say something or to just stay there in silence. Something told him to stay quiet and so he did. He watched as this girl cried and continued to cry until finally she blinked her eyes open, sat up, and began to wipe her stained cheeks. _

_Kazuhiko straightened up and got nervous. He felt like he intruded in her privacy. But the girl didn't seem surprise that he was there. In fact, she didn't even acknowledge that he was there. When her cheeks were stained free and the only sign of her tears were her eyes, she lay back down and watched the stars above her. As if they were telling a story, her whole attention was to them. He lay down next to her and watched the stars._

_There was silence all around them. Only the sound of the wind rustling the flowers around them and the rivers singing infested their atmosphere. But that was fine. The prince didn't want to say anything in fear that he might ruin the moment he felt he was having with this girl._

_But he needed to ask her. He needed to ask her the reason for her tears. Ask her the reason for the song. Ask her why she was out here all alone and how she had come across this hidden sanctuary of hers. ( /NumAqwe6lfE) _

_Megumi read his thoughts and was the first to speak, "My father use to sing me this song… He said that Fukurokuju was incased with this heavy burden of knowing everyone's death, even the one he loved. Death was inevitable he said but it's better to not know when it was going to happen."_

_He didn't say anything, he just listened and let her voice drown into his mind. "I wish he were right. If I had known—if I had known when it was going to happen then maybe I could have done something. But I couldn't do anything."_

_And that's when he realized that she was talking about the death of her father. His body tensed thinking of his own father. He hadn't known him that well, since he had been sent to the Land of Gems he hadn't really seen him and even before he hadn't really spoken to him. If anything, Daisuke played as more of a father than his own did. Would he cry as Megumi cried over her father?_

"_The day it happened I ran away from the servant house of the palace. I ran and ran, I couldn't take seeing his pale skin and his lifeless eyes stare blankly back at me…" she shook her head, imagining the image again, and the tears fell once more. "He wasn't there anymore, I didn't know him. I lost him."_

"_I ran deeper and deeper into the forest, I cried underneath the tree with the hole and then I met Kotori. She brought me out here. She let me take this place and make it my new home…"_

_Kazuhiko couldn't find words to string together and make an appropriate sentence to say. He was at a loss. He couldn't say he knew what it was to feel death let alone know what love was. He didn't know what it was. He was raised behind prestigious etiquette and strict rules. He was a prince, a prince with the world on his shoulders. He didn't have time for love when he needed to focus on training. This was his life and there was no space for anything else but that._

_His father told him that when there is room for love you bare risk of carrying hate as well. His father said that when there is hate, Azukitogi can manipulate you and then all of the training he had done would be gone. The world would be lost._

_He had no feelings he could feel._

_So what was this feeling he felt as he lay next to this girl he hadn't even fully gotten to know? Why did he feel like picking her up and telling her words of comfort? Why did he feel nervous and unease around her? It was a foreign feeling and he was scared that maybe this is what grew to be love. _

"_Kazuhiko-sama?"_

_He blinked and turned his head towards the girl that had finally acknowledged his presence. "You shouldn't be afraid to feel love. Though feeling love you also feel every other emotion in the world, it's actually something beautiful."_

_He turned his head back to the stars. "I can't feel any emotion. I don't know how."_

"_Yes, you do. You feel something every day. Whether it's confusion or even dedication to your training, you're feeling something. You can't bury that, it's in you." She put her hand over his, "love is just another emotion you can't run away from."_

_His muscles tensed up at the touch of her soft skin. But even if he did accept the feeling of love, what would happen? It wasn't just to accept the fact that he had the feeling but everyone else to accept that he could feel something as well. What would happen then?_

_She squeezed his hand gently, "don't be afraid, Kazuhiko-sama."_

_He let his hand be squeezed and then he opened his mouth to say the words Megumi was waiting to hear from him, "I think I might be in love then."_

_The girl beside him smiled and shut her eyes. "You've felt it all along, you've just been afraid to accept it."_

_The wind suddenly was beginning to get stronger and Kazuhiko sat up quickly to see the source of why. In front of them, just at the foot of the bush wall, was a giant spiraling circle forming. A man was beginning to take shape. He was tall and thin and wore a long cloak, and his face was covered with a yellow-orange mask with the pattern of a spiral that resembled like the one he had just seen. _

_The mood in the meadow shifted quickly. "Prince Kazuhiko," the man said._

_Kazuhiko stood up quickly and shielded Megumi as instinct. _

"_Why do you protect the girl behind you?" His lone eye closed in amusement and then he opened it again. He walked towards the boy and then around, getting behind the girl that was kneeling behind him._

_Kazuhiko couldn't move, he was paralyzed with fear. He was pathetic. He had to seal a powerful demon but couldn't even stand up to this masked man. He tried to get his muscles to move but he couldn't at all. He turned to face him, tried to move his feet but he couldn't do anything else but watch._

_He pulled out a kunai, lifted it over his head, and then slammed it into the Megumi's head. The sound of metal meeting bone echoed in the meadow. The man didn't say anything else afterwards, instead he just left the same way he had come. The prince fell down to his knees, catching Megumi into his arms. His hand shook as he put it over the knife and tried to pull it out._

_He couldn't. It had gone so deep into the bone that it was stuck there. Blood escaped through the openings and covered her head and now his body as he clutched her in his arms. He was so confused, he didn't know what was going on. Why did the man kill her? For what purpose could he have done it? How did he know where to find her? His head was aching and he held the girl tighter into his arms as he cried._

_Too many things were happening. Why hadn't he moved? He could have stopped him. But he couldn't. He cursed the wind, cursed that stupid song Megumi was singing. He looked towards where the man had appeared before, Kotori lay there. Head separated from body. A pool of blood escaping from its neck._

_He could feel it in his neck himself, could feel the kunai in his head. But he could also feel something stabbing and cutting at his heart. He was aching. "What the hell is happening?!" he screamed._

_Megumi lifted her head and looked at him, he hadn't realized she still had some life in her. She gave him a smile, weak but it was there. And then her eyes stared at him, but they weren't her eyes anymore. She wasn't Megumi. She was dead._

_~ End of flashback ~_

"To this day I still don't understand why she was killed and who that man was," the prince said. Hinata stared down at her hands. She knew who the man was. Madara Uchiha. But why would he kill the girl? For what reason did he do it?

"I didn't know what Megumi meant. It means blessing. Now when I think about it she was a blessing. I don't know whether I would have accepted love into my life if it wasn't for her…" he sat up and looked at Hinata, "when I met you that night when we were being robbed, you reminded me a lot of her… for a minute I thought it was really Megumi."

Hinata looked away from his eyes. She knew she couldn't tell the prince about Madara but her throat ached to let it out. He had killed his first love.

* * *

_~ Flashback ~_

_( /F5FjkQQql4I) _

"_Have they suspected anything?" the masked man asked._

_Inoichi shook his head no. "Not that I know of. How long before we make the procedures? I'm getting sick of this body," his voice was filled with disgust._

_Behind his mask, Madara smiled. "Very soon. Zetsu is doing the final preparations. Resurrecting a soul isn't all that simple you know."_

_Silence. He answered, "That's understandable but I don't think I can keep them fooled very long. I don't know anything of this man and how he behaves around others. It's becoming very difficult. And knowing the Hokage she's figured something out. And what about the other man you have?"_

_Madara took a second before answering, growing tired of being doubted. "Whether they find out or not, it'll be too late. This body has already been tested and it's perfect for that of Azukitogi." Madara ignored his question. _

"_How long?"_

"_A day, maybe two."_

_Inoichi groaned. "A day, maybe two? We don't have that sort of time—"_

"_Silence yourself, Kiyoshi. You agreed to this mission and agreed to follow my every order. You shouldn't doubt me," Madara stepped closer, "you don't know where that doubt will take you."_

_Inoichi stared at the man before him, his eyes not separating from his lone one in the mask. "Fine."_

"_Have you taken over his whole mind yet?"_

"_I'm working on it alright? It's not all that simple. This man was a high ranked ninja and he specialized in mind transfer himself. He's putting up a good fight. Some jutsu that takes over other's minds won't do the whole job on someone like him and plus—"_

"_You haven't answered my question, Kiyoshi."_

_He clenched his fist at being interrupted again. He was getting tired of being pushed around by this cryptic masked man. "No. I haven't."_

_Madara turned and walked to the center of the room. With his back to Inoichi he said, "Well do it quickly. Or else when we do the resurrection your soul will be gone along with his."_

_He didn't let this phase him. He was growing use to the threats. "Are you going somewhere?"_

"_I have other business to take care of. I have to go and pick up someone."_

_He smiled knowingly and watched as Madara was slowly disappearing, a spiral taking over his body. When there was nothing where he stood, Inoichi laughed. _

_This mission would finally be over and soon._

_~ End of flashback ~_

Inoichi was sitting on a bench starring at the trees in front of him. He had to do something about this person inside of him. But he couldn't. He could slowly feel himself being taken over more and more each day. Every time he tried to tell someone, Kiyoshi would force his mouth closed. He was losing his will over his own body. All he could was hope that the Hokage would sense something was wrong. And soon.

He didn't know how much longer he had until he was fully taken over. And even then, what would happen over him? In a sense, he was doing good investigation. He was growing closer and closer to what Madara was planning. But he couldn't pry any information out of Kiyoshi. All he could get was what he saw through his own eyes.

He had a basic idea of what was going on: Madara was planning to resurrect the demon's soul, Azukitogi. He planned to use Inoichi's body for the resurrection until he could get his hands on the body and from the question Kiyoshi asked, he had another man captured. But how did he plan to use his body as a vessel? And who was he going to pick up? And who was the hostage he had?

You're wasting your time. Even if you were to find out the whole plan, you wouldn't be able to tell anyone. I won't let you.

Inoichi ignored the voice. The pin that held Azukitogi's soul was taken from the Land of Gems. It can be assumed Madara has the pin and has somehow figured out a way to resurrect his soul. The body is sealed away in the Island of Camellias. Only the prince has access to this temple where the body is held. Only the prince knows where the body is hidden in the temple and how to open the barrier.

That's when it hit him.

_He's going after the prince…_

But the question still remained, how did Madara get past the barrier to steal the pin? How did he even know where it was hidden? Rumors did circulate that it was in the Land of Gems, that's where the prince did his training for the majority of his life. But how did he get pass the barrier? How did release it?

He searched his mind for more clues to piece together but couldn't find anything more. He looked up finally realizing that someone was standing in front of him trying to get his attention.

It was Kotetsu. He had a nervous smile on his face. "Inoichi, Hokage-sama has summoned you to the interrogation building."

He could feel Kiyoshi stiffen up inside of him. He couldn't say anything so he nodded and followed Kotetsu, hoping that they would finally figure out what was going on.

* * *

Hinata stared intently at the prince as he continued to talk about his life back home. It seemed that his life back in the Land of Gems was full of deceit and lies. People from different nations and different walks of life would try to enter his world unnoticed and then try to manipulate him. It made her heart ache that he never had real friends. Friends that wanted to be friends with him because he was himself and not because he had ties to something powerful.

In all reality, he only had his attendants by his side, Daisuke, Senji, and Aki. Not even his father, from what she could pick up on the few things he mentioned about him, seemed to have been around.

The prince picked up a small edged rock and let his fingers trace the rough edges. "In less than a day I'll finally be putting all of this training into work," he tossed the rock into the river. It was picked up and danced in the current.

"What will happen after everything is done with?"

Kazuhiko looked over at her and gave her a confused look, "Huh? Oh—you mean what will I do after I seal Azukitogi. Well, I don't know. I never thought that I would have to be the generation to seal him away. I just hoped that someone else would have to be stuck with that burden. But we can't stop destiny from doing its job, can we?"

Hinata jumped up, "Y-you ran away!"

Kazuhiko fell back startled, "yeah, I did. What's the problem?"

"I-I was supposed to look for you and it's been so late. Oh, everyone must be worried now."

He waved her off, "they'll be fine." He stood and dusted himself off, "but if you're so worried, then I guess I'll head back."

"Right, then we should go now."

* * *

Inoichi was strapped on to a table up-right. His body was wrapped with wires from his brain up to his head. The room was white tiled and closed off. He knew though that although he couldn't see them, they were there. Tsunade, Shizune, Neji, and his own daughter, Ino. They stood in the other room starring through the one way window.

"Do you see anything off, Neji?" Tsunade asked as she observed the man on the metal table.

Neji, Byakugan activated, tried to find something that could be seen out of the norm. Everything seemed fine though. His flow of chakra was normal. He shook his head.

"I figured as much," she mumbled under her breath. "Shizune, how are those scans coming out?"

"We still have delta waves."

The Hokage smirked, "bring in the rest of Gai's team."

Upon her orders, Gai, Tenten, and Lee walked into the room where Inoichi was. Gai, enthusiastic as ever, quickly kneeled next to the strapped ninja and began his ramblings. "Wipe that look of despair off your face, Inoichi! Let the power of youth embrace your mind and body!"

Tenten rubbed her temples and sighed, "Gai Sensei talks like he's still young."

Lee put his fist out, "You mustn't speak that way, Tenten! There is no age for the power of youth!"

"Why did you bring them here, Hokage-sama?" Neji asked as he watched his teammates.

"Gai and Lee are known for their high spirits and enthusiastic attitude. I want to test something out."

"Then why is Tenten here, too?" Ino asked.

"She's a weapon specialist; we could use it here too."

"Exactly what are we testing?" Neji asked as a smirk began to grow on the Hokage's face.

"Well, right now Inoichi has delta waves, meaning he's asleep. That's the only time it can pop up on the scanner."

"I don't think I'm following," Ino said confused.

Neji crossed his arms over his chest and continued to observe what was going on in the next room, "they're going to see if Gai Sensei and Lee can try and wake him up, although he is clearly awake to our eyes, and perhaps use Tenten's specialties as well." He looked back at the Hokage, "is Inoichi in some type of genjutsu?"

Ino looked over at the Hokage too, worry growing on her face. "We don't know for sure, but we believe so, yes. It's a genjutsu we haven't seen before. If this doesn't work we'll have to use you next, Ino."

She nodded hesitantly. A bad feeling in her stomach made her hope that it wouldn't have to come to that.

She watched Gai and Lee do their thing and when it didn't work, Tenten stepped in to only have the same faith. The feeling in her stomach grew more and more. She didn't understand why someone else—someone more experienced—couldn't have done this. She respected the Hokage's decision but still, why her? She didn't like seeing her father like this, she didn't even know something was wrong.

He hadn't been acting himself but that was obvious. He was more secluded now and isolated and hadn't really spoken. And when he did speak it seemed like he was struggling. Ino stared at the man that was strapped and hadn't even flinched at the attempts to get him to react. He just stared at the ceiling, as if he was bored.

"Ino—Ino!"

She looked up. "Y-yes?"

"You're next." She looked at the Hokage and nodded. She stepped out of the room, Neji behind her. They walked into the room where her father was strapped. The table he was on began to make a grunting noise and then it was beginning to sit up right. When he was up right, Ino took in a deep breath and stared at her father. His eyes seemed pleading.

She did the hand sign for her Mind Transfer jutsu and focused. Her body fell limply and Neji quickly caught her before she hit the ground.

Ino was now inside her father's body and mind.

* * *

Hinata and the prince continued to walk in silence. They were farther away from the ship than Hinata had anticipated. The lack of communication made it drag and feel longer as well. But she needed the silence to hear her surroundings. She couldn't miss a single thing that was out of place.

"Hinata-san?" she looked up at her name. "Are you fond of that blonde headed ninja?"

Hinata blushed, debating whether she should answer or not. She opened her mouth to say something, a small smile on her lips and cheeks flushed scarlet, "w-wel—"

"Prince Kazuhiko."

The two turned quickly at the voice. Hinata's color left her cheeks. The prince's blood boiled recognizing the voice and then the man that was before them.

Madara Uchiha stood on a tree branch nonchalantly. A smirk behind his orange mask.

* * *

**Author's Note**: And that is the ending of this story! What will happen with Ino and Inoichi?  
What will happen between the prince and Madara? The next chapter will be posted somewhere next week (most likely between Friday-Sunday). Thank you for all the views, favorites, follows and reviews I have been getting. It's really nice getting feedback that helps me a bit and lets me see what you guys are thinking about as you read. So 'till next time my fellow readers!


	7. Chapter 7: Taken

**Chapter 7: Taken**

Beneath the stars and far from the coast of the Land of Fire, just before the Island of Camellias, sits a small port. Not many travelers land there due to a very strong barrier that keeps the foreigners out. The village, which holds the majority of the population, lay in a clearing among the trees, quite a pleasant spot. Its northern end framed by a small waterfall that tied itself to one of the many small rivers the port was known for, which supplied the few who lived here with the water they needed. Among the tall trees danced shadows along the trunks and upon the earth, shifting as the clouds above lazily drifted across the nighttime sky. Two shadows, however, seemed to move against the flow of their brethren, instead rushing against the wind that pushed them back.

They were running, trying to get away from something that wasn't chasing them.

Hinata held tight to Kazuhiko's hand and darted through the forest trying to put as much distance between them and the masked man. She knew she stood no chance against him, the man who, by himself, declared the fourth shinobi world war.

Her 360 vision showed that the man was not in pursuit behind them. Normally, she would have let out a sigh of relief but since this wasn't any ordinary enemy they were running from it made her more worried than comforted.

At her side the prince was trying his hardest to keep up with Hinata's fast strides. His breath was ragged and if it weren't for the blue haired girl dragging him along, he would have stopped a while ago. She pushed her eye sight further, scattering a good 300 meters from where they were. They were almost out of the hold of the trees and soon be out into the village.

"Hinata-san, I-I can't keep going," the prince said. She ignored him and kept her focus on her surroundings. With the speed they were going at they would be out of the forest soon and her ear set would be in range to contact the others.

But things never go as planned when escorting an important VIP.

Before the two appeared a portal, swirling outward and materializing Madara Uchiha before them. Behind his orange mask he smirked with amusement. Hinata quickly pushed the prince behind her and took her stance of the Gentle Fist, the signature style of the Hyūga clan.

"A Byakugan wielder, from the main house from the stance you're taking."

Hinata answered with a glare that bored into the lone red eye that stood out of his orange mask.

"You don't really believe you can take me on your own, do you?"

No, she didn't. She knew herself more than anybody that she stood no chance against him. But she could try because if she didn't not only would she fall in defeat but the world as well and she wasn't prepared to let that happen.

She needed to think of a way to stall him long enough that the prince could get away, but how? She didn't let her jumbled thoughts show on her face and when saw she Madara move his hand slightly upwards, she lunged forward.

"Hakke Sanjūni Shō!"

Everything moved slow. Hinata charging forward, aiming to strike at him with her palms, her hands going through his shoulders and then her whole body. He didn't even sidestep her attack, he just stood her ground. Her strikes met with the tree trunk that stood behind him, slamming and re-slamming harder and harder into the wood.

A loud complaint emitted from the tree as the last hit connected. The complaining noise grew until finally the tree began to tip over and slowly began to start its decent downward towards Madara. She ran towards the prince, taking him by the hand once again, and leaped over the tree and began to run again.

Her attack hadn't worked but it had still served her as an advantage.

* * *

Further into the building of Konoha's Intelligence Division, down a metal flight of stairs and into a poorly lit cement corridor, is an average size metal door. The hinges and screws that dress it are all red orange from rust due to the lack of maintenance and use it gets. Inside, the room is sterile white with three white marble walls and pristine white tiled floors. The three white walls all breathed out life as the computers installed into them let out beeps and movements of strange graphs on the screens. The fourth wall that stands in the very front of the room is a one way window with a door at the very corner made out of the same material as its neighbor. In the center of the room is a silver table with many different machines, some with a strange moving needle moving on paper on its own leaving trails of blank ink, another letting out air in a slow rhythmic pace. Engraved into the desk are vibrant colored buttons that range from a bright hue of red to an untainted white that hurts your eyes. In front of the table stands a tall girl with fair skin and hair pushed back into a long pony tail of white gold.

Ino Yamanaka stared at her farther through the one way mirror, fear and worry laced into her eyes and face. She couldn't fight the strange feeling she had in her stomach as her eyes continued to bore into her father's limp body restrained on the upright table in the other room. Tsunade gave her the orders to go on and she nodded slightly before slowly raising her hands in front of her and doing the unique hand seal for her clan's famous jutsu, the Mind Body Switch Technique.

She never had tried the jutsu on her father before other than in training. She had a pretty basic idea on how her father's mind was, already had the feel for it imprinted in her own. But now, as she stood in Inoichi's mind, she knew there was more to what was going on.

There was anger, and hate, and the dire urge to kill swirling all around. The emotions were so strong she wanted to leave right then and there but she held her ground and moved around to find the source to where it was coming from. Deeper into the rooms of her father's mind she found an ajar door with white light radiating through the small opening, she moved closer to see what was behind it, anxiety growing deeper than when she had started.

Inside the room were tall metal bars growing out of the floor and up to the high ceiling. The floor itself couldn't be described as a floor or even ground. It started off with white solid light and then deeper into the room turned into a shallow pool of purple liquid. Behind the bars was a chained man by his wrists to the wall who was growing paler and his chakra circulating slower than it should.

Ino didn't think another thought before running towards him, "tou-chan!"

Inoichi lifted his head slightly and his eyes grew wider as the girl ran towards him, "Ino, no!" he shouted in a hoarse voice.

Ino stopped confused just as she was about to step into the shallow pool of purple liquid, Inoichi let out a sigh of relief. "Do not step in the water, move away from it now," he said, his voice raspy. "You don't have much time, do you. The mind transfer will wear out soon." He wasn't asking it, instead it seemed like he was saying it to himself, as if reassuring himself that his daughter was in fact there.

He continued in the rough voice he had, "don't speak. Do not ask questions, listen, Ino. The purple liquid, with a simple small touch, will take over your mind and control you. Regardless if you are in your own body or not. You must tell Tsunade-sama to have me under high surveillance at all time, my body is being controlled by a third party. Don't worry about me, I have a plan. But Madara is going after the prince right now. They're planning to use me for—"

But Ino would never know what her father wanted to tell her right then in his frantic and urgent voice. The water began to vibrate before slowly being pulled back into a giant wave that began to let out purple gases. They swirled and waltzed slowly towards the white gold haired girl, threatening to pull her into their depths. She backed away, fear closing up her throat and paralyzing her feet.

"Ino, run!" The voice roared through the whole room and brought her back to her senses.

"But—"

"GO!"

So she did.

* * *

They were in range now, with her free hand she put her hand to her ear and spoke, "Naruto-kun? Kakashi sensei? Anybody?"

Without a slight pause an answer came through her ear, "Hinata? Did you find him?" It was Naruto.

Her heart didn't jump, she didn't blush. For the first time in her life she didn't feel or act differently because of Naruto—but that could have been because she was currently being tracked by a mad man that would kill for power.

"Yes, but Naruto—"

"Great! Tell me where you are and I'll—"

"Naruto-kun, listen! Madara is after the prince right now. We're almost out of the forest but I—"

"Asking a Jinchuuriki to come help you stop me? It seems the new generation of ninja being raised in Konoha are not as bright as they use to be."

The voice came from in front of her as she ran and just like before, a portal appeared before her, stopping her in her tracks. She squeezed the prince's hand. Not for any particular reason, just for her own benefit. She had to make sure he was still there with her.

"Hinata-san, you don't—"

Hinata stepped in front of the prince giving him a sign to stop speaking. With her body she formed a wall between him and Madara. "I won't let you have him," she stared right into the blood red eye, forcing all her confidence into every word she said.

"Foolish girl, I don't care for what you have to say. You stand no chance alone against me, you're simply putting yourself in danger, risking your life for a spoiled prince."

There weren't any trees behind him anymore to serve as a diversion to get away. She had to think, think Hinata, _think._ But nothing was coming to her. All she could do was stand and fight.

She reached for a kunai in her pack and held it in a ready position. Madara smiled behind his mask, "I offered to take the prince with no casualties, but seeing that you will not participate, very well."

Hinata charged forward, kunai in hand, but just as the first time, she went through his body. Suddenly, her shoulder was grabbed and the kunai knife was taken out of her hand. Just as fast as she was grabbed she leaped back before the kunai could have connected with her skin, the back of her jacket getting the worst of it.

She stared at Madara, scrutinizing every last detail about him. _His flesh, it's like he becomes transparent but when he attacks he solidifies himself again. _

"As much as I want to keep this amateur spar going on, I think I'll take my leave."

She looked at him confused and then realized what he meant. She had left the prince wide open and alone. Madara turned towards him, the prince frozen in place by his sharingan, and then a portal began to take him over. His body swirled inwards in a mesh of different colors before he wasn't there anymore. Hinata collapsed to the ground as she threw herself just before the last of the spiraling colors disappeared. She turned to look at Madara but he was gone as well, her kunai knife flying towards her before making its home into her skull.

* * *

Tsunade bit on the nail on her thumb as she stared out of her office window. Frustration was boiling inside her stomach. Things were beginning to get a lot more complex than they started off. After Ino had told them everything that Inoichi could muster to say, she felt relieved to hear that Inoichi himself was thinking of a plan to break hold from whatever was controlling him. But the relief feeling she felt only lasted for a few seconds. It was clear enough that Madara Uchiha was after the prince for obvious reasons. But what had her at the edge of her seat was what Inoichi had found out. What could they possibly want with Inoichi? Of all the Jōnin Konoha had, why him specifically? It wasn't that she didn't think he wasn't strong or anything, Inoichi was part of the legendary Ino-Shika- Chō formation and he could definitively hold himself in a fight. But why him? The question lingered in her head.

Without turning her view from the window she spoke to the women who stood beside her table awaiting orders, "Shizune, I need you to go to the Cryptanalysis Team, they should be done deciphering those symbols from the body you did the autopsy on." She nodded and quickly scurried out of the room. When the door signaled with a click that she was gone, she turned and made her way to the door.

It was time she met with the Konoha Council.

* * *

"Release!"

Hinata stirred on the cool ground. Beneath her it was moist and the dirt moved accordingly to her body movements. Something trickled down her forehead and tickled the skin it touched. She reached to wipe it, fighting to move her arms as her jacket clung to her like a second layer of skin. Her eyes blinked lazily and drifted to her hand, it was a clear liquid. She was sweating.

So it had only been a genjutsu? She was fine! So that meant—

She sat up almost too quickly, her head turning but she was too excited with this new found knowledge. She looked around, one—two—three? Only three paired of worried eyes were staring at her, neither which were the gold ones of the prince. She stood, forgetting about thee eyes that watched her with concern and looked around, he wasn't there.

"Hinata?" she turned, Kiba's usual enthused features were twined with worry as he stared at the blue haired girl. "Are you alright?"

"The prince, where's Kazuhiko-sama? Have you taken him back to the ship already?" she didn't mean to sound frantic but her voice just came out that way.

Sakura tilted her head slightly, "we were going to ask you the same thing, Hinata."

"S-so it wasn't a genjutsu?" she reached for her forehead again but her hand came back with only sweat.

Kakashi turned towards the path that led back to the ship, "I think we should head back, we can talk about this later. Right now we have to find the prince as soon as possible."

Without another word, the four ninja followed his lead.

By the time they reached the ship again the sun had already begun its descent back upwards to take its spotlight back in the sky. The colors of orange and bright yellow reflected on the dark ocean that looked black as the mixtures of dark blue, orange, and yellow battled to overpower each other. Kiba groaned from the lack of sleep.

"Are you kidding me!? We were out _all_ night!" he half fell to the ground and lifted himself up quickly as Akamaru went to his rescue.

"Oh quit your complaining it's not like it's anything new to you," Sakura said with a small yawn.

Kiba's eyes fought to stay awake, "shut up, Sakura."

The pink haired girl stopped in her tracks and Kiba stopped abruptly almost bumping into the kunoichi. "hey what's your—" Sakura's head began to twitch slowly in a ticking motion to the side, her face drawn back into a smile that only screamed malice. "What did you say to me?"

Kiba opened his eyes fully, as if he had just been woken up, "n-nothing!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Y-yes, Sakura."

She turned to face him, fist up with a massive amount of chakra silhouetting around the skin, her smirk growing with every step she took closer to the backing up Inuzuka. "Why don't you say it—"

"Guys, I think you should come and see this…" Kakashi called from the top of the ship.

"Just hold on, Kakashi sensei. I have a little business with—"

"Now."

Without another sound of protest, she lowered her fist and ran up the runway of the boat to where the silver haired Jōnin was. Her steps echoing in the silent morning. Akamaru stopped Kiba's sigh of relief as the pink haired Kunoichi left with his loud barking. "What's up, Akamaru?" he barked louder and pushed passed Kiba and ran up the ship.

Kiba strode after all their leads, curious about what the entire ruckus was about. "What has you guys all—" he stopped his high banter as he looked at what was in front of him.

The two servants who served the prince were laid on the wooden floor of the ship, bodies disoriented. Blood drenched between the floorboards and stained the once clean light brown ground. From the way it still drizzled the dog specialist mentally noted it was fresh. Aki, the smallest of the group, was bent in such a way you'd think his bones were made out of noodles. His porcelain white neck jutted out from his body, the bone protruding out of the skin to the side. His eyes stared lifeless back at Kiba as he walked closer to get a better look. Senji, the biggest who served as the body guard, was ripped apart like an old ragged doll when a child gets bored and takes apart the arms and legs. His head was rolled to the side only inches away from his body. His arms were carved at the wrist and then slashed again at the shoulder. The only thing intact was everything waist down.

A shiver ran up Kiba's spine and the word barely came out above a whisper, "—spooked."


End file.
